The Incarnation of Cybertron
by fealion
Summary: Sparklings are everything. When a young woman is transported into the past and a different reality to save those Sparklings, NOTHING in the Transformers world will ever be the same.
1. Crossing Over

Fealion: I have no defense as to why I started yet ANOTHER fanfiction. All I know is that I have fallen in LOVE with Peter Cullen's (Optimus Prime) voice!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Transformer. Micheal Bay and whoever he works for owns the movies and Hasbro owns the toys. The only things I own in this story are Silverlight and Morwenna.

Rated M for language and hints at torture and experimentation on sentient beings.

To readers of my other stories I am working on new chapters; it was just kinda hard to think when this popped into my head.

To everyone reading this; Enjoy!

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight

As I read this I am struck by how—young I was before. Not young in the customary definition of the word; I was never granted the experience of a _'normal' _sparkling-hood by any means, forced to process reality with a maturity far beyond my years by circumstances that were outside of my control.

No; by young I refer to the fact that my former race was so short lived—their bodies decaying long before they truly acquired the chance to live.

What was my former race you ask?

It should be obvious; you yourself are one.

Humans; organic beings who live with all the vitality of a shooting star—passionate, alluring, entrancing—and extinguished far too quickly. They are brash, arrogant and crude; yet they are also kind, humble and they possess the strength of will that leaves us in awe of them time and time again.

When my kind first arrived on the planet called _'Earth'_ they did not know what to expect—they were as wary of humans as they were fascinated by them. And when they met the boy…

But that is a story for another time.

_THIS_ is a story of a young organic femme; a woman by human criterions who went from believing in an ideal—to living it.

My name is Silverlight and this—this is** my** odyssey.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"_~—give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean_

_Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes!_

_Give me reason to fill this hole, connect the space between_

_Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies across this new divide._

_There was nothing in sight but memories left abandoned_

_There was nowhere to hide, the ashes fell like snow_

_And the ground caved in between where we were standing_

_And your voice was all I heard that I get what I deserve._

_So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean_

_Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes across this new divide~." _

Morwenna Morrigan hummed along with her i-pod as she drew a picture of the Allspark, her concentration focused completely on the paper before her. Absently she brushed a lock of chestnut hair behind her ear, brown-green eyes squinting as she considered the drawing for a moment before she sat back in her chair with a tired sigh. Pressing the power button on her cell phone to check the time she groaned at how late it was, one eyebrow raising in question as it buzzed in her hand.

"Hello?"

"Mor-Mor!"

Morwenna stiffened in her chair and closed her eyes as a host of unpleasant memories assailed her. Why did_** HE**_ have to call?

"What do you want dad?"

"Can't I call my baby girl just to say_ 'hi_'?"

'_Frag no!..._

_Great; now I'm cursing in Cybertronian.' _

"That's what they invented texts for."

'_Not to mention I wouldn't have to listen to your slagging voice.' _

"But that's so impersonal Mor-Mor! Besides I wanted to ask you what you were up to."

Morwenna sighed, pushing herself up from her chair and walking towards her window, eyes absently staring at the stars as she rubbed her thumb and middle finger together in a subconscious effort to keep herself calm.

"I was just about to go to bed dad; you know I get up around 5 every day."

"Oh. Well I just wanted to remind you how much I loved you and that I'm praying for you."

'_Fuck you asshole.' _

"Yea…Thanks. Hey listen; I'm sorry to cut this short but it's almost 1 here. I really need to get to sleep. I'll call you when I have more time?"

'_Like I would ever willingly talk to you.' _

"Well I have some…..Some conferences to attend for the next couple of days; how about** I** call **YOU** say on…..Friday?"

Morwenna gritted her teeth, angling the mouthpiece away for a few seconds so that he couldn't pick up on her angry snort before adopting a falsely cheerful tone. She absolutely _**HATED**_ it when he tried to manipulate her like that.

"Of course—just remember that it can't be too late. Talk to you later."

"Bye. I'll pray for you!"

'_Thank Primus he bought it!'_

Morwenna hung up the phone quickly and leaned against the window with her eyes shut tight; battling inside herself with the emotions and memories that came up every time she heard his voice. She released a shaky sigh and took deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down, the flood of emotions threatening to burst the wall she placed in between them and herself. It had been 6 years since he was convicted; you would think that she'd be able to move past it by now….

Her eyes shot open as someone rapped on her window, smiling in relief as she noticed Riddle waving at her from the other side of the glass and pointing at the door. He was tall at 6'4" with slightly wavy light brown hair and dark chocolate eyes with a thin yet wiry build. He was older than her at 26 but acted so much younger that it was a wonder to her that he managed to make it into the military in the first place, much less stay in it for as long as he had.

Shaking her head Morwenna moved to open the door, leaning against the door frame and looking at the taller man expectantly.

"Hey Wen! So I got this insane craving for ice-cream and I thought _'Hey, as long as I'm going on a midnight munchies run I should ask Wen if she wanted to come too!'_ So will you; please,please,please,please PLEASE! You know they won't let us off base unless we have a _'buddy'_ so **PLEASE**!"

Morwenna laughed; her brooding put on temporary hold as she listened to the hyper man in front of her. She had met Tom M. Riddle(1)—and yes; he was teased for having the same name as a fictional Dark Lord—at her first duty station; he had already been on the ship for nearly a year and she was still fresh out of boot camp. He had been assigned to her as a _'mentor' _until she became more familiar with the ship and he took it graciously, showing her how to move around without getting lost and where her equipment was, inviting her to do things with him when it became painfully obvious that she was more likely to sit in her rack all day than socialize.

"I don't know Riddle; are you absolutely_ SURE_ that you need more sugar this late at night? You look like you could take on Godzilla with how hyper you are right now."

"Naw; I was thinking more Monty Python—and how many times have I told you to call me **TOM**? I swear that if you don't break out of that habit I'm going to dye your hair purple!"

Morwenna made a face as she closed her door and followed Tom down to his car, opening the passenger door and getting herself situated before responding.

"Yea and then you can be the one who takes the heat when I'm out of reg's in class tomorrow."

"As long as it isn't Chief Guero;_*shudders* _he's scary."

Morwenna smirked at that, leaning against the seat and humming softly as they drove towards the nearest supermarket.

"So….how've you been 'Wen?"

"I was fine until about 10 minutes before you came to get me."

"Why?"

Morwenna shrugged, turning her head to stare out of the window.

"_**HE**_ called."

Tom pursed his lips as he focused on the road, silence reigning inside the car. It wasn't until they were waiting on a red light that Tom spoke up, his dark eyes boring into Morwenna as he stared at her intently.

"If you hate him that much, why do you still talk to him?"

"….Because it makes life on mom and my brothers easier if he doesn't nag them about why I'm not talking to him. That and if I do he **WON'T** bring up another pointless and costly court case against my mother for _'poisoning us against him'_ even though he does a fucking fantastic job of it himself."

"…..Is it really that bad?"

"Can we just not talk about it please?... The lights green by the way."

Tom rolled his eyes as he put the car into gear, pulling out into the middle of the intersection right as Morwenna noticed a swerving SUV with no headlights—headed straight towards them.

"HOLY SHI—!"

There was the squealing of tires, the crunching of broken glass and the shriek of twisting metal as something warm sprayed against her face and agonizing pain pierced her stomach and then—….. **Nothing.**

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Morwenna moaned as she came to, opening her eyes a sliver only to slam them shut again as bright light assaulted her senses. Cursing softly she rolled onto her stomach, the pine needles of the forest floor making her squirm uncomfortably.

Wait…..Forest?

Morwenna's eyes flew open and her head jerked up as she took stock of her surroundings, surging to her feet before finding out that was _NOT_ a good idea. Groaning she put a hand to her head, waiting until the dizziness had passed before looking around her in wary confusion and nearly giving herself a heart attack as a bird burst out of a nearby bush. Placing a hand on her chest she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing herself to think calmly in the situation she found herself in.

'_Let's see…Got my clothes and shoes—thank god. I've heard WAAAY too many stories about people waking up in unexpected places butt-ass naked. Umm; have my i-pod—no boredom! Until the battery runs out anyway; slag. Thankfully I have a little cash—won't immediately starve at least._

_Oh: my phone!...That doesn't have any reception. Great. _

_How did I get here anyway? The last thing I remember is driving in the car with Tom…and…fuck.' _

Morwenna leaned against a tree as her fear threatened to overwhelm her; how did she get here? Where was she, why was she here and how did she escape from the car wreck? And then there was the most important question of all—where the frag was Tom?

Shaking her head Morwenna pushed what she was feeling to the back of her mind; she had to find a way out of the forest first—then she could let herself freak out about what might have happened to Tom. Nodding her head at her plan Morwenna glanced up to the sky, noting the position of the sun and taking off in her chosen direction. She would have to hit civilization **eventually** if she kept on walking in a straight line…._right?_

Hours later Morwenna wasn't so sure of herself anymore; it seemed like no matter how far she walked there was nothing but trees, trees and more **trees**. Idly she wondered just how the hell she had gotten here—she'd already come up with about a half-dozen ideas but was sure that if she voiced them to ANYONE she would be staring at the inside of a padded room in a happy jacket faster than you could say _Primus_.

The faint sound of gravel crunching underneath tires had her looking around eagerly, running towards the source of the noise in an effort to flag down whoever was driving the vehicle before she lost them. Sprinting to the top of a ridge she was just in time to see a large black truck disappear over the top of the next hill, her instincts instantly on high alert at the large _machine gun_ that was mounted on the back. Morwenna walked with her hands laced above her head, catching her breath as she made her way down to the road before entering the trees on the other side, unwilling to show herself to the people inside the truck until she knew that they wouldn't try to use the machine gun on **her**.

Silently she followed the road, shuddering as she spotted some of the more—ah,_ creative_ determents to keep people from whatever they were doing out here.

Then she spotted the sign.

US GOVERNMENT PROPERTY

NO TRESSPASING

TURN AROUND NOW OR ELSE YOU WILL BE SHOT

'_Lovely. I doubt that they're going to believe that I just woke up out here either—they'll probably shoot me and say they thought I was some type of spy or something.' _

Morwenna stood next to the sign, indecisive as to what she should do—until she heard voices headed in her direction.

'_SHIT!' _

Quickly she sprinted back into the bushes, nearly screaming as she _literally_ ran into a bear that had been killed by one of the traps. Knowing it was a long shot she tried to scurry underneath the large animal, thanking god as she discovered a shallow indentation on the ground that allowed her to be covered without getting crushed. Morwenna made her breaths as shallow and quiet as possible, blood rushing through her ears as the voices came closer.

"—nderstand why we're still keeping those—things alive."

"Hey; we gotta refer to those _things _as NBE's if we don't want our asses kicked outta the sector. It's boring as hell, but playing guard duty for a base out in the middle of nowhere is pretty cushy you gotta admit."

"Dude; have you seen some of the freaky shit that comes outta those robots? Their blood can eat through ya like acid man!"

"_*snort* _I think you're on acid Diegos."

"Am fucking not! Why the hell are we out here anyway?"

"Some techie thought he detected a human heat sig somewhere around here; all **I** see is a fucking bear."

"Dude me too. Wanna tell 'em that their high tech _'sensory node' _is on the fritz again?"

"Fuck no; did you hear the headache they caused the last time it went haywire? 'Sides I told 'em about the idiot that was trying ta sneak one of the smaller NBE's outta here and we're leaving soon. You tell 'em."

"Man, fuck you."

Morwenna remained tense as the soldiers gradually walked away from her hiding spot, a combination of fear and incredulity freezing her in position.

'_Robots? NBE's—….as in more than one? Hidden bases; acid blood? _

_... . . . . __. . . ._

_What. . .The. . . FRAG! _

_Nonononononononono: There is no __**WAY**__ that I got sucked into Transformers!…Is there?'_

Morwenna took a deep breath, the dirt entering her mouth making her cough and reminding her of where she was. Shimmying out from underneath the bear she noticed that it had been a couple of hours at least from the time she had first crawled under—it was a lot darker and the bugs had started to come out with the falling temperature. Cautiously she made her way towards the base, raising her eyebrows in faint amusement as she noticed that there was no fence.

'_A little arrogant are we?' _

Spotting an enclosure for one of the buildings generators Morwenna started to form a plan, noting the position of—or rather, the _lack_ of guards as she dashed to the cover of the enclosure. She grimaced as she noticed a window that faced the generators, rolling her eyes when she saw that the window had blinds drawn and the sounds of a water cooler reached her ears.

'_This is WAY too easy. I thought Sector 7—if I really AM in the Transformer universe—was supposed to be more paranoid?' _

Cautiously she made her way under the window, freezing as a couple of large Army personnel carriers whipped past the enclosure and down the road, dust whipping up behind them as she looked on in confusion.

'_What the hell?' _

Flattening herself against the wall beneath the window as she heard steps approaching the cooler Morwenna rolled her eyes, resigned to these people practically GIVING the information away.

"Have the meat-heads left yet?"

"Those _"Meat-heads" _as you call them are what make it possible for you to sleep at night you know."

"So?"

"_*sigh* _Yea they've left; that means we'll be done soon right?"

"Soon as we finish up our final experiments; then they're going to de-com all the NBE's before re-fitting this place into an Air base."

"And when will THAT be?"

"Either tonight or early tomorrow morning."

"Thank god; the large yellow one was starting to creep me out."

The speakers' companion snorted as they moved away, his response intelligible though it was followed by a sound of indignant rage a few seconds later. Morwenna cautiously tested the window, pushing it open and slipping inside as she went over the new information.

'_Big yellow one?. . . . The only two yellow autobots that I know of are 'Bee and Sunstreaker; no idea whose yellow on the 'Con side. And from the sounds of it there are more than just one 'bot—different sizes too. _

_Fuck fuck fraggity __**fuck**__! If they're gonna try and 'de-com' 'em tonight I don't have much time to keep that from happening. Where the hell are they keeping them?' _

Opening a door marked 'Office' Morwenna stared at the inside for a bit before grinning; she could use this. Most of the electronics and paper-work had been cleared out already—probably an Army Officers office then—but there was enough equipment that had been abandoned that would make for a lovely electrical explosion once she got it all set up. Finding a screwdriver in one of the desk drawers Morwenna set to work, knowing enough about electronics to know what NOT to do if you didn't want a fireball on your hands.

Unfortunately for the remaining Sector 7 that is exactly what she wanted.

It was 9:46 pm when Morwenna finished her creation and looked at her phone for the time, leaving the final two wires that would activate the self-built timer undone as she explored the rest of the building. She didn't know what they had been doing to the _NBE's _or for how long, but she would be damned if she didn't find some type of proof to bring these ass-holes down.

Spotting a door with a key-pad lock Morwenna looked around, going to a window to make sure that no one was approaching from the outside before turning back to the door with a determined look on her face. Bracing herself against the door frame she lifted her foot, kicking the door repeatedly with all her strength until the door splintered and allowed her access. Looking around she felt her anger, disgust and shame rise at some of the pictures tacked to the wall—they reminded her of the pictures she had seen at the Holocaust Museum.

The only difference was that they were robotic instead of human.

She couldn't help but wonder though; how did they find so many? Shaking her head she moved to take the pictures down, placing them in a pile on one of the desks and covering the top one with a piece of paper so that she wouldn't have to look at it. It was with far less enthusiasm that she checked to see if any of the computer's had been left logged on, breathing a soft '_Thank you Primus' _as the desktop popped up.

Grateful that the tower to the computer was so small she accessed the main database, noting with a faint sense of dread that the earliest file was marked 1991—which reminded her; what **was** today's date anyway? Going down to the time on the bottom bar she clicked on it, staring at it for a while before a wry smile curled her lips.

March 17, 2007.

'_I went….4 years and 3 months into the past. _*snorts*_ Now I can add time-travel along with dimension hopping to my resume of '_Weird Shit I've Done'_. _

_At least—__**if**__ I plan this right—I'll be able to save Jazz.' _

Smiling faintly at the thought of saving the silver autobot she started copying all of their research and dumping it onto the computers personal hard-drive before erasing every file she could find. There was no way in hell she was going to leave this shit if she could destroy it instead. She didn't know the passcode to get back onto the tower once she shut it off but figured that it didn't matter—if _Frenzy_ of all 'Cons could hack into POTUS with barely a thought then this should be no problem for the Autobots.

Double-checking that everything was on the drive she wanted to take with her she shut it down and unplugged it from everything, grabbing the cord as she tucked it under one arm, grabbing the pictures on her way back out the door and made her way back to the room that held her _'bomb'_. After sticking the screwdriver in her pocket she went through the rest of the drawers in the room and gave a small cry of triumph as she located a small canvas bag—it wouldn't be able to hold much but the handles fit around her shoulder pretty well and she stuck the compact tower and pictures in it before twisting the two wires together.

Slipping out the way she came in Morwenna edged her way to the back of another building and waited until someone shouting told her that they had spotted the fire. She looked around the corner of the building to see where they came from, ducking back behind it as the bomb went off. She smiled at the panicked yells of the gathered Sector 7—serves them right for experimenting on _**sentient**__**beings**__; _no matter if they were organic or not. Swiftly she moved towards the entrance that a large group of scientists had left, staying low to the ground as she ran to the cover of some large vehicles.

Cautiously she scanned the lay-out of the room, cursing as she spotted 3 camera's and a card/ thumb-print activated lock on a wide set of double doors that she just knew she needed to go through.

Then she noticed the vents.

'_I hope to Primus that they don't have laser trip-wires or any nasty shit in those.' _

With a resigned sigh Morwenna hiked the straps further up her shoulder and took out the screwdriver, working as silently as possible as she loosened the grate enough to be able to slip inside, pulling it back into its original position when she was done.

Hopefully no one would take notice of the pile of screws on the floor.

Armed with nothing more than a vague sense of the direction Morwenna set off, scratching an arrow at every turn and fork in the vent-work. Several times she had to back-track and take a different route, her temper growing shorter—and worry larger—with every passing minute.

What if she didn't make it in time?

Gritting her teeth she pushed on faster than before, letting out a startled yelp as she felt herself falling; a painful_ 'omph' _signaling that she had reached bottom. Groaning she turned onto her back as she regained her breath, propping herself up with one elbow to look out the grate she had unwillingly landed next to.

'_What is it with creepy places and long, barely-lit hallways?' _

A high pitched mechanical keen had Morwenna nearly jumping out of her skin, eyes narrowing into slits as she identified the noise.

'_They'd better __**NOT**__ be doing what I think they're doing.' _

Huffing in agitation Morwenna pulled the screwdriver out of her pocket, undoing the screws and slipping out from the grate as she made her way towards the source of the keening, flinching as more sounded out from a static-y voice processor. She kept the screwdriver held tightly in one hand, ready to stab the first thing that tried to grab her.

Reaching the end of the hallway she turned left, her steps growing more cautious as she saw light spilling out of an open doorway. Leaning against the wall right outside the door she took a couple of fortifying breaths to try and keep herself quiet before she cautiously peered into the room.

Nothing she had **ever **seen before could have prepared her for this.

Protoform exposed; energon being bled from countless tubes connected to the lines; white spark thrumming wildly inside its exposed casing from where the plating had been removed. Morwenna took this in with increasing horror; the lack of coloring and large, expressive blue optics that were dilated in crippling panic telling her one thing.

This….this was a **Sparkling**.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight

1. The name "Tom M. Riddle" belongs to JKR. I'm just playing with it for my own amusement.

"New Divide" is owned by Linkin Park.

Next Time: Morwenna gets pissed, the origin of the Sparkling(s) is revealed, and we get to meet a certain yellow Cybertron mech…..

Review and await eagerly for the update my mechlings!

'Till all are one!


	2. Escape

Fealion: Second installment of Incarnation!

Disclamier: I said it in the first chapter—should cover entire story.

**The-Living-Shadow**: Thank you. This story is the same—yet different than my other two multi-chapter stories and I can only hope that more people start following it the more I write. I want this story to make people think: what would we do if we meet someone (or something) that was so fundamentally different to us? Just some food for thought.

**AN Note**: The idea for Sector 7 unknowingly creating sparklings using the power of the Allspark belongs to **Sinead Rivka** and her story _'Things We Don't Tell Humans.' _She just gave me permission to have my own wicked way with it.

**Warning**: This is the last angsty chapter for a bit—probably. Certainly won't be planning on it! As always language; and in this one illusions to death and torture (mild).

On to the story!

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight

Morwenna clenched her teeth, leaning back against the wall and breathing out harshly through her nose, wincing as another loud wail ripped through the silence. Cautiously she looked through the doorway, noting the position of the two _things_ that she would not give the satisfaction of calling anything even remotely human.

Mechanical "arms" hovered above the sparkling, blue-white arcs of electricity buzzing around the tips in an ominous hum. Nodes were taped all across the little ones spark chamber, a monitor behind the things showing the furious spark-beat of the terrified mechling as bright blue optics followed their every movement in fear, small whines escaping from the small ones torn vocal processor.

Morwenna's grip tightened on the handle of the screwdriver, eyes widening in anger as the things began to speak.

"God damn it!"

"What's the matter _NOW_?"

"Don't get snippy with me Morshan! I don't understand; the readings should indicate a +3.46Vdc increase in the sine wave output with a 2.5 second decrease in the time between the peaks of the waves but instead there's barely a +1Vdc increase and the time has **increased** by .5 seconds!"

"I told you when we started; this one is defective! It is the _ONLY_ N.B.E. that didn't attack **immediately** after we hit it with the radiation from the cube and the only one that remains from the _first_ batch!"

Morwenna froze.

'…_..You mean to tell me that they have been misusing the power of the Cube for __**THIS**__**LONG**__?'_

"Well I've had it! Turn the voltages on the arms up to +/-2200 Vdc with a 12 amp current; we'll see how long the things '_heart'_ can survive the equivalent of an electric chair before it gives out and then we'll go see if Henderson needs any help deactivating the big one."

Morwenna let out a wordless scream of anger and charged the two things as they turned, shoving one back into the table where the mechling was strapped down as she pounced on the others back, driving him forward onto the console and smashing his head onto the unforgiving metal. As he fell to the floor a loud humanoid screech rent the air, Morwenna whirling around and watching with wide eyes as the other thing convulsed erratically, his hand tightly clasped around the end of one of the mechanical arms.

Whipping her head around she dashed for the emergency cut-off switch the moment she spotted it, the smell of burning flesh hitting her nose once she hit the button. Turning back around she watched in horrified fascination as the things weight pulled it to the floor, losing the battle with her stomach as she noticed the near perfect hole that had been burned through his hand.

Shuddering with the knowledge that her shove had caused him to grab onto the arm in the first place Morwenna kept her eyes adverted, walking back over to her screwdriver and picking it up before turning to the mechling and smiling shakily as it looked at her with wide eyes.

"Hey there; it's okay, you're safe now. I'm going to get you out of here, ok?"

Slowly she moved towards the sparkling, freezing as it tugged away from her and gave a pained chirp, fear plainly visible in those blue orbs. Slowly Morwenna lowered herself until she was below the table-top, moving forward once the sparkling noticed that she was no longer towering over it and tilting its helm curiously, watching her as she reached the restraint holding the right servo in place. She started to talk to it in a clam, soothing voice, rambling on about irrelevant things as she worked on the screws that held the restraint to the table. She smiled victoriously as the last screw popped out, stuffing the screwdriver into a back pocket before she stood up and gripped the thin piece of metal firmly and pulled.

The sparkling jerked in surprise as the metal snapped, looking at its servo in wonder as it moved and twisted before warbling joyously, pointing at its other servo while staring at Morwenna with expectant blue optics. Chuckling Morwenna moved to undo the other restraints, tensing as she had to lean over the body of the dead scientist in order to free the left ped. Straightening she giggled at the sight of the little one moving peds and servos in childish wonder, sobering when she caught sight of the lines that still drained energon from it.

'_Please dear Primus; don't let me screw this up.' _

Carefully she pinched and removed the lines and electrical nodes from around the spark chamber, breathing a sigh of relief as the small holes closed on their own. After she squeezed as much energon out of the lines as she could she took the cylinder that it had been collected in and set it next to the sparkling, coming up with a funnel after a few minutes of searching. After a few minutes of gently examining the sparkling she found a small valve next to its main energon line, opening it and carefully inserting the end of the funnel before pouring in the energon slowly, gently scolding the sparkling as it tried to move.

After all the energon had been returned to the sparkling she closed the valve and withdrew the funnel, giving a small cry of surprise as the little ones self-repair systems activated and watched in fascination as the abdominal plating slowly regenerated itself. Looking over the rest of the sparkling as this was happening she noticed that it was too—solidly built to be a femme-bot; how she missed the fact that it was a mech before she had no idea.

"Well little mechling; what are we going to call you? Sparkling isn't going to work—unless you want to be confused with the others when we go and rescue them.

Tron?...

**No**; it reminds me too much of big, silver and creepy they've got down at Hoover—and you're not creepy at **all** are you?"

The little mech cooed up at her, grabbing her hand and twisting it around with interest when she tried to bop him on the chevron. Yelping slightly as he tried to bend her finger the wrong way she rubbed his helm as his optics misted, taking one of his three fingered servos and bending the joints gently, smiling in approval when he repeated the action on one of her fingers. Carefully she slipped one of her arms around the back of his shoulders, hooking the other behind his knees as she lifted him off the table and grunted at the unexpected weight before lowering him to his peds, sighing in relief as he took a few wobbly steps before standing straight with wonder shining in his blue orbs.

Morwenna laughed as he caught sight of the monitor, walking over to it and chirping excitedly as he prodded and poked, jumping as he hit a button that caused it to beep loudly.

"I know the perfect designation for you; Vultus. Would you like to be called that?"

The mechling gave an inquisitive chirp, tilting his helm cutely to one side in question.

"Its latin and it means '_look'_. I figured it would be a good designation because you're so curious about everything. You like it?"

The little mech looked at her for a while before nodding his helm, grabbing her hand when she offered it to him and nervously following her out into the hallway. Morwenna moved swiftly though the maze of hallways, mindful of Vultus' smaller legs as she looked around a corner, jerking her head back and flattening herself against the wall as she noticed a couple of armed Sector 7 walking into a room. Pulling Vultus back down the hallway she had him kneel in between some boxes, pushing him back down as he tried to get up and follow.

"Stay here Vultus; there are some bad men up ahead and I need to make sure they won't hurt you. You can't come; stay. Stay."

Vultus' optics misted and he chirped nervously as Morwenna stepped away, though he didn't follow. It made her wonder exactly how he could understand human speech—as opposed to only speaking Sparkling language—but she knew that was something she would have to figure out later.

Slowing and lightening her steps as she neared the doorway she peered into the room, gaping at the sheer size of the mech before her.

'_I know that he isn't the largest but—damn he's fragging __**tall**__! I never realized how much __**bigger**__ than humans they'd be!' _

The scraping of metal drew her attention to the scientist who stood at the controls, the two armed men she had spotted earlier standing on either side of the control booth with their guns trained on the mech's spark-chamber.

'_What is it with them and spark-chambers!' _

Morwenna forced herself to remain calm as she surveyed the room, nearly shouting in glee as she noticed the emergency cut-off switch on the back of one of the massive computer towers. Silently she moved towards the towers, letting her breath out in a soft whoosh of air when she managed to get to the button without them noticing. Pushing it she grinned as the scientist cursed at the sudden loss of power, ordering the two guards to find out what happened and get the power back online.

Smirking she raced to the front of the banks of computers and hid herself, keeping out of sight until they passed and carefully creeping up on one as their paths split. Waiting until the one she was following was close enough she charged, hitting the man in the ribs and catching him off-guard as she sent him sailing into the concrete wall, nodding in satisfaction as he hit his head and slumped to the ground. Working swiftly she took his weapons and rifled through his pockets, unwilling to leave him with something he could use to free himself with later, smirking as she found a couple of zip-ties. After zipping his arms and legs together she stood and made her way towards the direction the other one was traveling, freezing as he called out that he had found the power switch.

Cursing she sprinted towards the direction of his voice, tackling him away from the switch before he could flip it on and landing in a tangle of limbs not too far away. Grabbing his arms she kept them spread as they scrabbled on the floor, desperate to keep him from reaching any sort of weapon as she tried to think of a way to incapacitate him. Grimly she used her knee to smash her entire weight down onto his groin, flipping away from his hands as they reached down and he cried out in agony, gripping his head and slamming it into the ground until he fell unconscious. After removing his weapons and tying him up she made her way back to the front of the banks, pointing a semi-auto at the scientist as she stepped out of her cover.

"Oi; let him go!"

The scientist whirled around at her voice, raising his hands and looking at the gun warily as she stepped closer to him.

"Didn't you hear me? Let. Him. **Go**."

"I-I'm afraid I can't do that."

Morwenna narrowed her eyes.

"Why not?"

"It goes against Sector 7 protocol—."

"Screw protocol! He is a sentient being and deserves as much civility as a human; it shouldn't **matter** that he isn't from this world!"

"*_snort_* _You_ talk about the NBE like is actually capable of understanding human speech and intelligence."

"HE IS **MORE** THAN CAPABLE! His kind make our tech look like something made from **popsicle** **sticks** and their thought processes are so advanced that they are able to prove Einstein's E=mc² to be completely inaccurate!"

"There is no technology, human or otherwise, that can be that compl—."

"WOULD YOU GET YOUR FRAGGIN HEAD OUTTA YOUR AFT AND **LISTEN** TO ME YOU PIT-SPAWNED GLITCH-HEAD!"

The scientist opened his mouth to retaliate as his eyes drifted in the direction of the captive mech, freezing as something caught his eye. Slowly Morwenna turned so that she could look at the mech, a grin working its way onto her face as she regarded the two piercing azure optics staring down at her.

"Where did you hear those words fleshling?"

Morwenna's grin grew wider; he sounded almost exactly like his brother.

"The same place I heard your designation—**Sunstreaker**."

Optics narrowed in suspicion, arms tugging futilely at his restraints as he rose to his full height, making Morwenna whistle in appreciation before she turned back to the scientist, a sickly sweet smile on her face as she regained his attention.

"I _REALLY_ think you should release him now; don't you?"

Slowly the scientist nodded, eyes widening as she carelessly cocked the gun with a smile on her face, scrambling to push the buttons in the correct sequence so that he could be released. As soon as she heard the hiss of releasing air-locks she shot forward, catching the scientist as he tried to escape over the controls and smashed his head onto the panel, smiling as he crumpled to the floor. Turning back to the large yellow mech she raised an eyebrow as she found a plasma gun pointed at her; damn sub-space pockets.

"Talk before I shoot you fleshling."

"You're not gonna believe me."

"Try me."

Morwenna sighed, running a hand over her face tiredly before she looked back up at the yellow saboteur.

"Can I at least try and save the sparklings first?"

The effect was almost instantaneous; Sunstreaker froze, optics dimming to near black as he fought to keep from glitching at her statement.

"You're lying!"

"*_sigh_* No I'm not. I've already saved one; a tiny mech that I gave the designation Vultus to."

"The last of the sparklings died at the Battle of Proximax!"

"They _WERE_ the last; tell me Sunstreaker—what is the only thing in the known universe that can create more sparklings? The thing that both Optimus _**AND**_ Megatron have been searching for since its launch at Tyger Pax?"

The lithe mech looked at her incredulously.

"It's _HERE_!"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I don't exactly know—but now isn't the time for it. Do you want me to get Vultus and then save at _least_ a dozen sparklings or do you want to stand here and argue about how much I should or shouldn't know?"

"…..*_sigh_* Fine. We had better talk about this later fleshling."

"My **name** is Morwenna—you sound like Megatron when you call me fleshling and yea; we will."

With that Morwenna ran out the doorway, retracing her steps until she came back to Vultus' hiding spot, smiling at the adorable sight the recharging sparkling made. Kneeling beside him she gently shook his shoulder, patiently waiting as he jerked online and looked around with wide optics, calming once he caught sight of her before flinging himself into her arms. She hummed a random tune and stroked his helm gently as she tried to calm him down, pulling back and smiling at him gently as his tremors lessened.

"There is someone I would like you to meet Vultus. He's a lot bigger than you are I but I promise he won't hurt you. Do you want to meet him?"

Vultus nodded his helm slowly, once again latching onto her arm and following as she slowly made her way back to the room where Sunstreaker was being kept. Pausing just outside the doorway she sent one last reassuring smile to Vultus and lead him inside, smirking slightly as the yellow mech froze at the sight of the silver mechling. Slowly he lowered himself to one knee, giving out a gentle hum as Vultus hid behind Morwenna as she knelt down to face him.

"It's alright little one; he won't hurt you."

Vultus stiffened as Sunstreaker gently called out to him in Cybertronian, looking at Morwenna one last time before he slowly walked forwards as she smiled encouragingly. As soon as the little mech was close enough Sunstreaker scooped him up in one yellow arm, holding him close to his spark-chamber as he pulsed calming waves through his EMP field. Immediately the little sparkling curled up closer to his spark, giving off a contented coo as he slipped off into recharge.

Morwenna smiled, a silent communication passing between her and Sunstreaker before she turned around and left through the doorway, a serious look crossing her face as she strode to the end of the hallway. Taking out the screwdriver she scratched a large arrow that pointed back at the room when she came to a corner, running as the cries of multiple sparklings reverberated down the hallway. Sliding into a doorway she had just enough time to register yet **another** group of scientists trying to force a _merge_ between two sparklings before she was in the midst of them, swinging the barrel of the gun indiscriminately as she took down as many of them as possible.

Turning her attentions to the two frightened sparklings she hummed softly, moving with slow and obvious movements as she gently pushed their chest plating closed, helping each off the table and then pointing at the marks she had made on the wall, telling them to follow them if they wanted to escape the '_bad_ _men'_. The one that understood her nodded and grabbed the servo of the other sparkling, clicking and whistling softly until the other started to follow. Relief flowed through Morwenna as she went in the opposite direction, carefully checking each room that she came to for any humans before freeing the sparklings trapped inside.

Not all could be saved however; a fact that that she was horrifically reminded of as she found the room where they '_stored'_ all of the offline sparklings. Tears sprang in her eyes as she swiftly closed the door and moved on, attacking the next group of scientists with more viciousness than usual as tears streamed down her face. It took her hours as she methodically swept the building, freeing any sparkling she could find and sending groups of them back towards the room Sunstreaker was in, pausing as she found a doorway that lead to the human brig.

Cautiously she opened the door, slinking down the narrow hallway and pausing as she reached the corner, taking out the guard as he came to investigate the sound of the closing door. Rifling through his pockets she took out the ring of keys, looking down the rows of open walled cells in disinterest as her eyes landed on a solitary prisoner who was sleeping on a spartan army cot. Walking to the bars of his cell she rattled them until he jerked awake, smirking as he looked at her incredulously.

"What you in here for?"

The man narrowed dark brown eyes, running a broad hand to run through short black hair as lips parting in a sigh before he responded.

"Why would a civie like you wanna know?"

Her smirked widened.

"Cause depending on the answer I just might let you outta here."

"*_grunt_* Ya know about the little N.B.E.'s?"

"You mean the sparklings are the Cybertronian equivalent of babies or small children?"

"…Yea~; them.

I kinda figured that; a lotta them acted too much like my nephew for comfort.

Anyways I used to guard some of them; grew attached to them—one in particular—and decided I didn't wanna hafta listen to their screams no more. I tried ta sneak some of them outta here one day but I got caught and—well.

Here I am."

Morwenna nodded, unlocking the door and moving back down the hallway before looking back at the man, her eyes glinting in determination.

"My name is Morwenna Morrigan and I am on a mission to save as many sparklings as possible. I would be grateful if you would help."

The man grinned wryly, jogging to catch up to her and accepting the guns handed out to him as he spoke.

"Michael Donahue; let's get to it."

Smirking Morwenna lead him back out into the hallway and down the direction she had been traveling in earlier, the pair splitting up as that hallway ended and they were faced with a long hallway that stretched in either direction. Early morning light streaming in windows at either end let the both of them know that they were nearly finished, Morwenna grabbing Michael by the arm before he could take off.

"I've scratched arrows onto the walls of the hallways that will lead any sparkling you may find back to Sunstreaker—."

"Who?"

"_Oh my_—the **large** N.B.E. He's their version of an adult and they are _VERY_ protective of their youngling; they will be safe once they get to him and if we run into any soldiers I want to have as few sparklings with us as possible. When you have a decently sized group find one that understands you and tell him or her to follow the arrows until they see the other sparklings, got it?"

"Got it."

"Good; hurry and good luck."

"You too."

With that they took off in opposite directions, Morwenna cursing as she looked at the time.

3:28 a.m.

Knowing how early military liked to start their day she estimated that they had maybe 2 hours at the **most**; hopefully they could make it back to Sunstreaker in time.

Morwenna came across two more offices—which she took all of the information from and melted the hard drives to—and 5 more sparklings before she reached the end of her part of the hallway, cursing as she looked outside and saw a _**LOT**_ of personnel transports pull up all around the building.

'_DAMN IT!' _

Scooping up the mini-sparks that had been following her she flew down the hall, meeting Michael halfway; he had seen them too.

"How many on your end?"

"I didn't really count, but if I had to guess I'd say 10-ish."

"Ok; 10 on your end and 12 on mine—at least 5 more to completely surround the building. With 15 to 20 soldiers in each—."

"We are royally screwed."

They turned yet another corner and ran down the hallway, the sound of a faint explosion spurring them onward at even greater speeds. The sparklings that were draped on them clung on in terror as they barreled down the last hallway before the last turn that lead to Sunstreaker—and straight into enemy forces. Michael pulled Morwenna into one of the rooms as they opened fire, keeping them distracted with cover fire as Morwenna frantically undid the cover to an air vent, throwing a flash and smoke grenade in the direction of the troops before hauling himself up into the ducts. They crawled forward as fast as possible, Morwenna letting out a cry of relief as she heard Sunstreaker's voice.

"This way!"

Maneuvering her legs around Morwenna jumped down a vertical shaft, kicking out the grate at the end and calling out the all clear once she had exited, Michael following soon after. Morwenna turned to talk to the large mech—only to get bowled over by dozens of sparklings. Michael chuckled as he crawled out of the vent and saw her predicament, letting out a half-hearted _'Oh sh—!'_ before he disappeared in his own dog-pile of tiny metallic bodies. A deep rumble from Sunstreaker had them scrambling off the two humans, the both of them shaking their heads before rushing to help the yellow mech defend the doorway.

"We'll hold them off; you find something in here to block the doorway!"

The yellow saboteur glared at her menacingly before he moved off; as much as he hated having a fleshling telling him what to do he knew that she was acting in the best interest of the sparklings. Conducting a surface scan of the room his optics lit up as he spotted the metal plate he had been strapped to earlier, ripping it from its bolting and carrying it to the front of the room. The ground shuddered as Sunstreaker drove it in deep, bending the edges towards the wall so that no human could enter.

"Now what fleshling?"

"Call me fleshling **one** **more** **time** and I'll call you Megatron 'till we meet up with Optimus."

"I'd rather eat slag."

"Then at least call me _organic_ you **stubborn** **aft**!"

Morwena sighed in frustration, smiling as Vultus came up to her and snuggled into her side. Hearing a loud '_omph'_ she turned to find Michael on the floor, one of the smaller sparklings snuggling up under his chin with static-y, chirping cries. Michael smiled and hooked one arm around the tiny metallic body as he stood back up, gently rubbing his hand up and down the mechlings back while talking to him softly.

"I assume that's the sparkling you tried to escape with?"

Michael nodded, shifting the sparkling so that he lay within the cradle of his arms, one servo clutching at his shirt as he looked up at Morwenna. Smiling Morwenna knelt to talk with Vultus, pointing at the tiny mech in Michael's arms as she did so.

"Michael and I need to find a way to get you guys' outta here and away from the bad humans. We need you be a good mechling and look after the others while we do this alright? Can you take care of…..?"

"Carbon; after the steel."

"Can you take care of Carbon and the others for me?"

Vultus nodded seriously, rapping his arms around Carbon and holding him against his chest as Michael handed him over, both humans nodding at each other before they strode towards the far end of the room, Sunstreaker not far behind.

"Sunstreaker; I need you to blow out this wall with a hole big enough for a truck to drive through. Once the rubble has settled I need Michael to run out to one of the unmanned transports and drive it back here; I'll be alternating between providing support fire for Sunstreaker and gathering the sparklings together so that we can get outta here.

After all the sparklings are in the truck I want Michael to drive down the road as fast as possible while Sunstreaker shoots at anybody who tries to follow—I'll be in the back trying to keep the sparklings calm."

"What happens if there's soldiers' waiting outside?"

"Do you honestly have a better idea?

They won't stop until all of us are captured or dead; Sunstreaker and the sparklings for being what they are and us for actually having some common sense and decency. And I can **guarantee** you that if they are captured again not **one** of them will make it past the end of the month."

Michael sighed and cocked his gun, a steely glint entering his eyes as he thought about the truth in her statement.

"Let's do this."

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight

Sgt. Samuel T. Morris leaned against the transport vehicle in complete boredom—teams Alpha and Bravo had already mobilized towards hangar 1A where the largest N.B.E. was held while Teams X-Ray and Zulu were methodically checking the building for the two civilians that were reportedly freeing the smaller N.B.E.'s. When he had pointed out that the Sector 7—a branch of government he had never even _HEARD_ of before—security must really suck for them to have their asses beat by _CIVIES_, his team—Team Yankee—got stuck outside on fucking **guard** **duty**.

He just knew that this was a punishment for his comment earlier, after all; what did they expect the enemy to do? It isn't like any of the N.B.E.'s—which he had never _seen_—were big enough to blast a hole in the—

_**THOOM! **_

Sgt. Morris was knocked clear off his feet as the rear wall of the hangar exploded, parts of the reinforced concrete flying out more than 15 feet before crashing into the earth, the dust cloud kicked up from falling debris preventing anyone from catching a glimpse as to what was inside.

"NOW MICHAEL!"

A small human-sized blur shot out of the dust cloud towards one of the personnel transports and for a second Samuel thought that _THAT_ might be the N.B.E.—until one of his soldiers yelled out that is.

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS **THAT**?"

Morris looked in the direction that they were pointing, breath catching as he caught sight of two glowing blue orbs—up a **hell** of a lot higher that what any human could ever hope to reach. As the dust settled, he was able to see that it had wheels for feet; cables, wires, struts, hydraulics and engine parts all combining together to create a giant _yellow_ machine that had deadly blades extending from its wrists that were nearly as tall as it was. It shifted its stance, crouching down with one leg extended as it smirked at the Yankee team—and then it _friggin_ **spoke**.

"Hello _organics_; want to _play_?"

The humans stood there, too stunned to do anything—until one of the soldiers yelled out.

"HE'S STEALING THE TRUCK!"

Everything exploded into _**CHAOS**_.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight

Morwenna kept the sparklings back behind some of the larger computers that were located near the large, gaping hole in the wall. She winced as the discharge of Sunstreakers plasma gun created a shock wave across the ground, fighting the exhaustion of being up all night and shot at some of the soldiers that were trying to flank the yellow mech. The blaring of a horn had Morwenna poking her head above her cover; nearly laughing with relief as the heavily armored truck came barreling into the space.

"Get them all on **NOW**!"

Morwenna worked as quickly as possible, frantically counting in her head as they were lightly tossed into the interior of the transport.

'_Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine…..__**FOTRY**__!' _

After a quick glance around the room she raised the gate and locked them inside, running around to the front where Michael was providing cover fire for Sunstreaker.

"They're all in; let's go!"

"Carbon!"

"Vultus still has a hold of him. Now let's get outta here before they get smart and block our escape route!

SUNSTREAKER: **ROLL** **OUT!**"

Morwenna practically **dove** into the back of the transport truck, telling all of the sparklings to sit down and hold on to something as she dragged Vultus and Carbon onto her lap, yelping slightly as the truck suddenly shot forward. Chirping cries and surprised warbles filled the air as Michael turned sharply and they slid to one side, Morwenna yelling at them to hold on and duck as bullets flew all around them.

Morwenna grit her teeth and held on for the bumpiest ride of her life, grabbing some of the smaller sparklings as they were in danger of being crushed by the larger sparklings. She cursed as they shot out into a paved back road, thankful that Sunstreaker had enough sense to transform into an altmode—even if that altmode looked like a bright yellow Nissan that got into a fight with a blender and lost.

As they moved further and further away from the hidden mountain base Morwenna couldn't help but wonder what was in store.

'_May Primus protect us.' _

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight

Word Count without AN Notes: 5,210

Next Time: Morwenna explains how she knows everything, nice old couple on a farm help them, the sparklings prove to be a handful, and we check in on Tom.

PLEASE: Read and Review!

Until next time my mechlings!


	3. Explanations and New Friends

Fealion: Whoo! The third chapter is done! YAY!

I know I promised no angst but let's face it, Cybertronian History—especially after the start of the Great War—is full of angst. I will try to make the present as….peaceful as possible though. Oh; the kind old couple kinda got pushed back too…..*_sigh_* Let's face it; this chapter didn't follow the little outline I have for it in my head.

Stupid things taking on lives of their own.

**Note:** I know that "Dino" from Dark of the Moon is in fact supposed to be **Mirage**; however, he is known as **Dino** in the movie so **Dino** he'll stay. I have different plans for Mirage anyway in case anyone wanted to gripe about it.

Peoples to Thank:

**():** No idea who you are but thank you! Here's more Sunstreaker too!

**Kitsune-miko-witch**: Whenever I watched ROTF I would always wonder; where did Sunstreaker go? Then I thought of sparklings and Sector 7 and eventually I thought; what if sector 7 was responsible for offlining Sunstreaker in the cannon movie? As you can see my imagination took off from there.

Trust me; Ironhide and Ratchets reaction to what was done to the sparklings will be glorious; especially when you factor in Ratchets explosive temper and Ironhides trigger-happiness. As for Morwenna and Sunstreaker—you'll just have to read; won't you?

**heelyazandrun ():** Here's more material to feed your addiction!

**SRT-10 Blue Viper:** I'm glad you think so; cool car btw.

**HP():** THANKS!

_**Disclaimer:**_ If I owned Transformers the Allspark would have never been destroyed, Jetfire and DEFINITALLY IRONHIDE WOULDN'T HAVE DIED!...Ranting over.

Terracycle—earth day

Solarcycle—earth year

Nanoklick—1 second

Orn—Cybertronian day (4.8 earth days)

Quintun—one Cybertronian week (24 earth days)

On to the Story!

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight

Morwenna jerked awake as she felt the truck roll to a stop, shifting Vultus and Carbon—who were both **really** heavy—onto the seat next to her. Yawning she stretched as she made her way to the back of the transport, carefully stepping over the splayed bodies of dozens of recharging sparklings, grunting softly as her back popped. After exiting the back of the truck she walked around to the cab, knocking on the window and smiling softly as Michael raised his head from the steering wheel and looked at her blearily.

"Comon; we're not gonna get any sleep 'till I explain what I know to Sunstreaker and I know that you wanna know too."

Michael groaned as he got out of the truck and moved after her, the scraping of metal against metal signaling Sunstreakers transformation. Morwenna said nothing as she sat down on a bluff, rolling her eyes as Michael decided that her thigh would make a good pillow and flopped down next to her.

"It's time you talked organic."

"…_*sigh*_ Just remember that **you** asked for it. Now where do I start….

I guess the first thing I should tell you is that I'm not from here."

Michael snorted.

"That much is obvious."

"No; **YOU'RE** thinking_ 'not from this state' _or _'not from this country'_ but **I'M** talking about _'not from this __**world'**_."

Michael lifted his head to look at her incredulously.

"Unless you're gonna tell me that you're some kinda Kryptonian or somethin' there is no _WAY_ you're not from this world."

"I too doubt that you're from another world organic."

Morwenna laughed; their confusion—and subsequent denial—was quite amusing.

"Maybe I shouldn't say _'different world'_; a better description would be _'different dimension'_."

Sunstreaker snorted, rolling his optics in disbelief before sneering at her.

"Of course you are; and I'm a fragging 'Con."

"Nope;—though you **did** fight against Megatron in one of the State Games **before** the war."

"I _DID NO_—!"

"What was the name of the mech that kicked your aft the last time you fought in the games?"

"I don't see how tha—."

"What was his **name** Sunstreaker?"

"….Meganous."

"And what is the **traditional** **ending** you put at the end of the_ 'Lord High Protectors' _name?"

Sunstreakers optics widened dramatically before narrowing, a low growl ripping from his processor at her raised eyebrow.

"Hey; _YOU_ wanted to know. It's not cool ta shoot the messenger."

That brought the mech up short.

"What the frag does **that** mean?"

"It means no ripping—or _shooting_ in this case—my head off just because I know things alright? Now; as I said before I'm from a different dimension. And before ya ask I can tell because of one simple fact: in my dimension, Transformers don't exist."

"Transformers?"

"What **we** called **you**.

In **my** world ya'll were a toy line and TV show that started in 1984. There's at least five different time-lines depending on which offshoot of the original series you're a bigger fan of—though interestingly enough no one can seem to figure out what happened in between the creation of Cybertron and the invasion of the Quintessions, and even then some argue that the Quintessions never landed on Cybertron at all. But that's _just_ in the TV series.

In the movies—Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Dark of the Moon—there is very little Cybertronic history mentioned unless it is essential to the story-line."

"Wait; **movies**?"

Morwenna rolled her eyes; he didn't bat a shutter at the news that they were a _TV show_ but he got worried over them being in **movies**? Wait; did he even know what movies were?

"Yes _movies_.

The first movie is about the events that are actually going to happen in a couple of months. Bumblebee—**NO** interrupting Sunstreaker!—landed on Earth 4 years ago; he could feel faint traces of the cubes energy—which landed on Earth between 10,000 to 15,000 solar cycles ago—but wasn't able to pinpoint it. Scanning through various medical documents 'Bee was able to find a lead in one Captain Archibald Witwicky. And so began the hunt for his descendants, eventually leading him to Samuel J. Witwicky—Archibald Witwicky's great-grandson—in California about….40 days from now.

The reason he was after Sam—shortened name of Samuel—was because he had his grandfather's glasses. Now what makes these glasses special is that when Archibald went to the Antarctic Circle in 1897 he discovered Megatron—_No interrupting!—_frozen in a field of ice and accidentally activated his navigation systems, imprinting the coordinates to the location of the Allspark onto his glasses and slowly driving the dear captain insane.

Anyways; 'Bee drives into the used car lot where Sam is getting his first car and '_guides'_ the boy to buy 'Bee—if you **try** and interrupt **one** **more** **time** Sunstreaker I'm gonna let the Sparklings loose on ya with a can of **neon** **pink** finger-paint!"

The yellow mech sneered as he backed off and Morwenna rolled her eyes; temperamental, prissy, vain mech.

"Now then; that night 'Bee sends a signal to Optimus, Jazz, Ironhide and Ratchet that he's found the _RIGHT_ Witwicky and thus—the glasses. Of course Sam sees and freaks out; he refers to 'Bee as_ 'Satan's Camaro'_ at one point.

Now I'm not gonna go over every little detail of the movie but the next night Optimus and the others land on Earth, Sam and his girlfriend Mikaela along with 'Bee are captured by the very branch of government we just escaped, Megatron is defrosted from being a giant-ass popsicle for 10,000 years, and 'Bee and the humans take the cube into Mission City to try and hide it from the 'Cons.

Not that it works; they just take a giant Cybertronic battle into the middle of a densely populated human area. The one part of the movie that does suck though is the fact that Jazz dies during the battle.

Oh; and theallsparkgetsdestroyed—"

Sunstreakers optics widened in rage, one of his blades landing right next to Morwenna as he loomed over her, speaking in a deadly soft voice.

"What did you say _organic_?"

"Umm; Jazz dies?"

He growled in anger; the sound reminding her of Megatron when he tried to dissect Sam.

"**Don't** change the subject _organic_."

She chuckled hesitantly while rubbing her arm; she understood why some people said he could've been a 'Con now.

"Remember how I said that 'Bee and the two humans tried to hide the cube in Mission City? Well; they didn't so much _HIDE_ it as they tried to air-lift it out of the City. Unfortunately 'Bee had his legs blown off by Starscream when the military humans he was with radioed the fragger thinking that he was one of their planes.

'Bee gives the cube to Sam so that he could take the cube to the roof of a building and it could be air lifted out of the City. Megatron was able to sense the cube though and after knocking Optimus out for a bit he goes after the boy, though Sam still manages to get to the roof of the building. Just as he's about to give the cube to soldiers-who were on a chopper-Starscream shoots the main blade and it goes spinning out of control into the ground below.

Megatron traps Sam on top of the building and knocks him off, but before he hits the ground he is caught by Optimus who is then tackled by Megatron. After telling Sam that if he cannot defeat Megatron Sam should push the cube into his chest Optimus battles Megatron, a combination of ground troops and human aerial support keeping him from being off lined by Megatron. Telling Sam to put the cube in his chest Sam does the **opposite** and pushes it into Megatron's chest instead, killing him and destroying the cube."

Sunstreaker nodded his helm slowly, leaning back a bit as he considered her words. Morwenna was honestly surprised that he didn't try to decapitate her again. Who knew that he could actually remain calm as long as he was given a good reason?

"What about Jazz?"

"Jazz dies because while they were fighting Brawl, Megatron lands right next to them and he provides cover fire while everyone else falls back. I don't know exactly why—if I had to guess I would say that Megs was irritated with Jazz—but Megs grabs Jazz and takes him to the top of the spire of a building.

Jazz tries to get away and damage Megs at the same time by shooting him, but that hardly does anything as big, silver and creepy rips our beloved Autobot in _HALF_."

Michael stared at her strangely.

"…..Megs?"

"What? Megatron gets to be a **mouth** **full** after a while; so does Sunstreaker but—."

"But _WHAT_ organic?"

"Well; some people portray you as really pissy when someone tries to shorten your name—like Sunny or 'Streaker."

You know; for being an Autobot Sunstreaker could do one impressive sneer.

"My br—."

"Your brother is the only one who can butcher your name 'cause you and he are twin-sparks; one spark split into two bodies I **know**!"

"When why did you question it organic?"

"I _did no_—no; you know what? _Never __**mind**_."

Morwenna took a deep breath and closed her eyes; Sunstreaker might be an Autobot but he is one of the most argumentative and pushy 'Bots she has **ever** seen—even if technically he was the **only** Autobot she's ever seen. Thankfully he seemed preoccupied with processing all the information that she had told him, though she had to wonder how long it would take him to realize she hadn't told him **everything**.

Her eyes snapped open and stared ahead unseeingly as sleepy, chirpy noises drifted from the back of the truck, the weight of the past few days once again settling around her.

What were they going to do about the sparklings?

Yes; they **had** rescued them from a cruel and unusual death, but that didn't mean shit if they were unable to provide for even the most basic of their needs.

They needed medical care; though most of them were able to heal from their wounds once the instrument that was causing them had been removed, some of the wounds—the damage around the larger ones spark chambers especially—weren't so easily repaired. While she knew that Ratchet would be landing on Earth in a little over a month she couldn't help but worry; she knew that it was unrealistic to get attached to them so quickly but she truly hoped that all of them would make it.

They also needed to be with others of their own kind; yes being around Sunstreaker helps, but she had to admit he wasn't the…cuddliest or most patient of mechs—though he did seem to have a soft spot for the little ones. There was just **so** **much** that the sparklings would never know if they were raised by humans; hell, even their **language** was something that no human had any hope of imitating, let alone **teaching** to an entirely new generation of Cybertronians.

There was something else though; something that was **far** more important than any other.

**Energon**.

Without energon they would soon starve, their undeveloped bodies not yet able to handle the strain of converting Earth fuel sources into something that they could use. It had been 2 days since their _jailbreak_ and she was surprised—and thankful—that none of the sparklings had become unresponsive due to lack of energon. That was the _LAST_ thing she wanted to have happen.

Sighing she stood up, ignoring the two male beings behind her as she walked down to the field at the bottom of the bluff, her mind whirling with activity as she tried to overcome this newest threat to the sparklings safety.

'_If you're __**really**__ out there Primus I sure could use a bit of inspiration here!' _

Morwenna looked up at the stars expectantly before she sighed and shook her head; while she knew that there was a deity that undeniably _EXISTED_ in this dimension, it didn't mean that he was going to help her any. The faintly glowing porch lights of a farmhouse caught her attention, making her look around and curse at how far from the bluff she had come. Sighing she turned around, intending to start walking back to the bluff when—_**something**_ stopped her.

She couldn't explain it; somehow she **knew** that there was someone at the farmhouse who would be able to give her the resource that she—and by extension, the sparklings—desperately needed, though why she thought humans would have that she was looking for confused her. Maybe they knew of an Autobot who had some?

Morwenna shook her head; even if they didn't have what she was looking for, actually finding out where the pit they were would be of great help—after all, knowing how far they had to travel would greatly contribute to knowing how long they could continue to push themselves without any reprieve. As much as she wasn't looking forward to it—it's nearly impossible to get jobs without any documents after all—she knew that the sooner she and Michael were able to start bringing in money, the sooner they would be able to find a way to create their own energon and make the sparklings lives that much better. Not to mention that Sunstreaker was in desperate need of repairs; not that the fragger would ever mention it.

Thinking about how much embarrassment she would be willing to go through for Ratchet to hit the frustrating yellow mech upside the head—repeatedly—she moved forward, jerking to a stop in shocked amazement as she caught sight of the _LAST_ thing she would expect to find on a fragging **farm**.

'_What kinda money are these people pullin in! Damn!' _

Morwenna stared at the car in awe; while she would be the first to admit that she didn't know _shit_ about cars she **KNEW** that you had to have some serious cash to buy this one. Slowly she walked up to the car, inspecting the lines and curves from every angle with an artistic eye along with the moonlight that threw dark red paint into the extremes of shadow and light. The opening of the screen door had her head snapping up, walking around to the other side of the car where the man could see her, spreading her hands and keeping them away from her body to show that she had no intention of acting.

"Who are you; what were you doing to my car?"

Morwenna quirked an eyebrow; this was _his_ car? Then she noticed a slight flicker that ran throughout his frame and smiled, indicating the car behind her with a wave of her palm.

"My name is Morwenna. As for your _car_ I was doing nothing; merely _admiring_ an impressive piece of modern machinery."

The man snorted in disbelief.

"Really?"

"Really. I always thought that the Ford GT 90 was nothing more than a _concept_ car—it is inspiring to see such…**elegance** in real life."

The red-haired man grinned back at her, leaning carelessly on the edge of the door frame with a predatory glint in his eye.

"Did you like what you've seen?"

"I don't know; you interrupted me before I could _finish_ my inspection."

He laughed at her cheekiness, his loose stance making him seem relaxed and unconcerned when she knew that he had to be anything but. They were playing a game; a deadly dace were they tried to determine who had more to hide by how well they could act. It wasn't a game that she intended to lose.

"Why don't you look at the rest of it and then tell me what you think?"

"Only if you're giving me permission."

He smiled; she knew what the game was. However; **he** didn't intend to lose to a femme.

"Of course."

Morwenna moved back to the other side of the car, keeping her other senses tuned to the man even as her eyes turned back to the car, slowly working her way to the rear where she found **exactly** what she was looking for. Looking at the man she stepped a few feet from the car and closer to him, grinning as a faint frown crossed his features.

"It is an **excellent** piece of machinery. However; I do have **one** question."

"Oh?"

"Yes; which _**Autobot**_ am I talking to?"

Her grin gained a feral edge to it as he simply stared at her; Sunstreaker had at least _glowered_ at her—whereas this mech seemed to be content with glitching right in front of her. Idly she wondered what he'd do when she told him about the sparklings; maybe he'd be forced into an emergency recharge? She rolled her eyes as he seemed to recover and re-aligned the barrel of a shotgun with her heart, eyes narrowed in suspicion as he looked at her.

"How do you know that name?"

Morwenna smiled.

"The same way I know what's going to happen in the next 4 years; I am not from this dimension."

He snorted; what a load of slag.

"Right; if you're from another dimension then how the frag did **you** get _here_?"

"Hmm; not sure, but if I had to _guess_ I'd say either Vector Prime, the Allspark, or Primus himself."

She couldn't help but snigger at the slack jawed expression on his face; this 'bot was a lot more fun than Sunstreaker was! A frown swiftly replaced her grin. Speaking of Sunstreaker….

"Hey 'Bot; I have a question?"

Bright blue eyes focused on her face, mouth opening in unconscious reflex.

"My designation isn't '**bot**, femme."

"Well then; unless you want me to call you '_bot_ for the duration of our conversation I guess that you'd better tell me your designation, hadn't you?"

"Bu—!"

"I won't use the knowledge of your designation _against_ you, I promise. Just please; tell me."

She fell silent as he continued to look at her, willing him with her eyes to believe her. After a while he sighed, holoform flickering out of existence followed closely by the sounds of a transformation, the dark red mech looking down at her with cautious resignation.

"My designation is Hot Rod—what is your question femme?"

"Do—do you have any energon?"

She asked with such desperate hope that Hot Rod tilted his helm in confusion while he nodded slowly, his confusion only growing as he heard her thank Primus under her breath.

"Now for the next question; do you have enough for 40 sparklings and a pain-in-the-_aft_ Sunstreaker?"

His optics widened before he snorted.

"Now I _know_ you're lying femme; Sunstreaker disappeared after _YOUR_ government chased us 5 years ago and the _last_ of the sparklings died at Proximax—even a _glitch-head_ knows **this**."

She smirked.

"And **I'm** telling **you**; Sunstreaker, 40 sparklings and another human that helped us all escape are waiting on the bluff on the other side of _that_ field."

Hot Rod narrowed his optics; this human didn't know what she was talking about.

"Prove it."

His optics narrowed further as her grin widened, waving for him to follow as she started to make her way back towards the bluff, neither one noticing the silent figure that stood in the doorway that lead inside the house.

"This way."

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight

Michael hummed a low, tuneless note as he rocked Carbon back and forth, one hand resting on Vultus' helm and stroking it gently as the tiny 'bot looked out into the darkness with worried blue optics. Both of the little mechs had woken up shortly after Morwenna had disappeared; and while Carbon was slowly starting to drift off again the rubbing of his helm was the only thing keeping Vultus calm. It was like he knew that Morwenna—wherever she was—was in danger.

Michael had watched and listened to the fiery young woman—was it really just 2 days ago?—as she had taken charge, leading the rescue for children of a race that was so _different_ from her own for no other reason than they _**WERE**_ children. They didn't even **exist** for her—how long ago did she get to this '_dimension'_ anyway?

Michael looked up as Sunstreaker threw him further into shadow, raising an eyebrow as the yellow mech looked at the two sparklings with—longing?—before he seemed to remember himself and huffed in agitation and moved away. Michael shook his head; if he wanted to hold them that badly all he had to do was ask. Standing up he offered his hand to Vultus, smiling in reassurance as the shy mechling hesitantly reached out, shifting Carbon so that he rested on one hip as he made his way to where Sunstreaker was standing.

"I have a question."

The mech snorted and flicked his optics down to Michael before he resumed looking to the heavens.

"What is it organic?"

"From what I gathered your kind is in a war; and a fairly deadly one at that. It would be realistic then to assume that not many of these little guys were created around that time."

"And your point is?"

"My point is that you act like their something that could disappear the moment your eyes close.

I guess what I'm asking is; how rare are they _exactly_?"

Sunstreaker sucked in a vent of air at the question, optics turning on him in an intense stare as silence settled in between them. The mechs gaze again turned heavenward as he began to speak, servos clenching in an unconscious show of restrained grief.

"We were once as numerous as the stars—and nearly as long lived. But after the War began…there was nothing. The slaughter of entire cities occurred every quintun, the 'Cons making no distinction between friend and foe, old or young. In an effort to save our young we sent them to an underground bunker located in Proximax; thinking they would be _safe_.

_But they were betrayed_.

It wasn't until it was already too late that we received word of a Decepticon attack on the bunker; our _fastest_ soldiers—myself, my brother, and three other mechs—were sent to defend the bunker ahead of the main force until they arrived…..

When we arrived I could already tell that something was wrong; it was far too quiet. Cautiously we opened the door and crept down the hallway, one of the other mechs going on ahead as the rest of us checked to make sure that there were no 'Cons lying in wait to ambush us. A spark-rending screech of pain from the other mech had us bursting into the room—thinking he was under attack—only to stop short at the sight before us.

Protoforms of _countless_ sparklings littered the floor, each looking as tiny and frail as spark-stone."

Sunstreakers intakes hitched, dentaplating grinding together before he managed to get ahold of himself. With another shuddering intake of air he began again, optics dimming as he recalled that gruesome sight.

"Our sparklings; our _reason for __**fighting**__ this war_—they were all offlined.

The mech that had gone ahead was kneeling, holding two of his own against his chest and a third against his helm as he rocked back and forth, energon flooding from his eyes as he keened his loss to the heavens. It was a **dark** orn; for all of us. If it hadn't been for Prime I'm sure the war would have ended then and there….

To answer your _question_ organic; they are more **rare** and **precious** to us than the most valued material on this planet. Any one of us would **gladly** offline if it meant that they would live to see another orn."

Michael looked at Sunstreaker in awe; the depth of devotion that he showed to the sparklings—even though they weren't related to him in anyway—it was **staggering**.

He too observed the heavens as he thought about Sunstreakers answer, the silence between them only broken when Vultus suddenly darted from his side and raced down the side of the bluff, the reason for his impromptu dash exiting the waist-high hay a moment later.

"There's my Vultus! Did you miss me sweet-spark?"

Said sparkling just flung his body into his rescuers arms, helm borrowing into the arch of her neck as tiny metallic servos clung to her shirt, the tenseness of his frame leaving when she began to hum softly.

"I don't believe it."

Smiling Morwenna turned to her previously unnoticed follower, Sunstreaker looking briefly at the mech before snorting dismissively.

"Great; _how in the pit_ did the organic manage to find **you**?"

"Hey!"

Morwenna laughed at Hot Rod's offended expression; working with these two was going to be interesting she could tell.

"Hot Rod."

Said mech ignored her in favor of entering a glaring contest with Sunstreaker; both mechs too stubborn to stand down and let it go. She solved this by walking up to the dark red mech and kicking him in the ped, catching Sunstreakers optics and holding them for a second before turning on her heel in obvious dismissal.

"What the frag was that for human?"

She sneered at him; the late hour and lack of sleep finally catching up with her.

"Unless you want to deal with _38 __**grumpy**__ sparklings _I suggest you dampen your vocal processors **now**. If you and Sunstreaker are done with the pointless dominance battle—_don't fragging __**yell**__!—_maybe you can answer my question.

Do you or do you not have enough energon for 40 sparklings and 2 adult mechs—including yourself?"

Hot Rod huffed in irritation.

"Primus; give me a nanoklik!"

Morwenna shook her head; you'd think that she'd asked him to take down Megatron with how he was carrying on. Shifting Vultus so that most of his weight rested on her hip she turned and walked to where Michael was standing, both of them rolling their eyes at how—childish the red mech was acting. A loud clang directed their attention back to the two mech, Hot Rod flat out on the ground while Sunstreaker loomed over him threateningly, cursing at him in a—surprisingly silent—string of Cybertronix.

"Big Yellow better be glad that Vultus an' Carbon are asleep right now, else I'd slash his tires for cursing in front of the kids."

Morwenna raised an eyebrow; lips quirked in a smirk even as she watched Hot Rod get verbally abused by the irate saboteur.

"_Big Yellow?_ And you thought Megs was bad….."

"Oh go stuff yourself."

Morwenna smiled and re-directed her attention to the dark red mech that was slowly lifting himself off the ground, a thoroughly chastened look on his facial plates as he turned to address her.

"I apologize for my earlier actions femme; your question of which Autobot I was glitched my processors worse than I realized. I should have answered your energon question right away instead of letting my—incredulity at your question keep me from an appropriate response. _**ESPECIALLY**_ when you mentioned the sparklings which—as Sunstreaker _thoughtfully_ reminded me of—they are the last of until the Allspark is retrieved.

In answer to your question I have enough stored energon to last us two earth weeks; enough time for me to create more using the device that Wheeljack gave me shortly before we parted ways in Iacon."

Morwenna frowned thoughtfully, questions popping up inside her head in rapid succession and buzzing around inside like crazy bees.

"Could you create the same amount of energon for six additional weeks along with at least one cube each for four additional autobots in the same amount of time?"

Hot Rod's optics dimmed slightly as equations flew through his processors, facial plating pulling into a slight frown as he came up with an answer.

"If we were to go by the altitude and the azimuth of your sun at the peak of its arc this terracycle—one earth day—and then calculate how many square inches of sunlight need to be collected to produce one cubic inch of energon using the equation—."

"Hot Rod; Hot Rod **stop**!

While I appreciate you trying to explain this for me I'm **not** the kind of human that can understand more than basic algebra without feeling like my head is going to explode. So please; explain it like you would to a sparkling or a bot that has half of its processor missing."

"So you _admit_ your about as _smart_ as a glitch-headed turbo-fox?"

Morwenna rolled her eyes and stared at Sunstreaker dryly, wishing that she had the Cybertronic version of a Taser so that she could use it on **him**.

"You are a pain in the proverbial 'facing port, you know that?

You are a fighter; a saboteur for the autobot forces with instincts and processes that make you a genius out on the field. Yet I guarantee you that if you were to try and take over an advanced experiment from Wheeljack or try and patch up a mech with the same proficiency as Ratchet you would fail. Why is that?"

Sunstreaker snorted; it should be obvious.

"I have a battle computer; not _top-of-the-line_—that's Prowls thing—but a battle computer none the less. Wheeljack has a more analytical processor while Ratchets is more suited to battlefield medics. If I tried to take over either one of their positions it would only end in disaster because my processes are more suited to finding the quickest and most efficient way to end an enemy or aid an ally while Wheeljack and Ratchet's processes are more efficient in their respective fields."

"And that is **exactly** how a human mind works too. No we don't have battle computers or highly advanced processing units but we do have wavelengths inside our brain that make our skills more suited for one area of expertise than another.

To put it in simple terms I'm an artist and a—_protector_, I guess you could say; not a strategist, medic, scientist **or** philosopher.

Oh; if you insult me like that one more time I _**WILL**_ find a way to get the full fury of Ratchet unleashed upon you."

Michael laughed as Sunstreaker cringed away from Morwenna and Hot Rod grimaced; neither mech wanted the old medics temper unleashed on them.

"Well; in _simple_ terms the intensity of the sun's rays at this angle are too weak to produce the amount of energon you require in the amount of time you specified; especially with how short your sun remains in your sky for. If we were to go closer to your earth's equator then we would have enough direct sunlight for your requirements and time-limit to be feasible. But we would have to leave as soon as your sun broke over the horizon."

Morwenna rubbed a hand over her face tiredly and looked to the stars; while she knew that it would be the best course of action to get moving as soon as possible she also knew that they could only push themselves so far.

"Would it have any sort of detrimental impact to production if we were to rest for a day **before** we set out? I know that it has barely been an orn for you two but Michael and I haven't slept in two days; we're more likely to die in a fiery explosion because one of us fell asleep at the wheel, taking the sparklings with us in the process than anything else at this point.

I don't think you want that."

"…My calculations show that we can spare two human days for you to recharge before we must head father south; otherwise the required amount of energon will not be ready in time."

She grinned tiredly at that, whipping around and pointing a 9mm towards the field that she and Hot Rod had exited earlier when the distinct sound of someone grunting reached her ears.

"Come out with your hands were I can see them or _by Primus_ I will shoot you; _**NOW**_!"

A dry chuckle sounded as an older man stood up and stepped out of the hay, palms flat and at shoulder level to show her that he was unarmed. You could tell that he had worked on a farm most of his life; weather-worn face with a fit body that you could only come by with many intensive hours out in the field and a head full of salt-and-pepper hair that spoke of his experience. Bright green eyes crinkled into a smile as he turned to look at Hot Rod, one eyebrow rising in wry amusement.

"Are you going to introduce me to your friends Hot Rod?"

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight

Tom moaned as he came to, hissing and rubbing the back of his head as it throbbed dully.

'_Where __**the**__**hell**__ am I? Last thing I remember is 'Wenna and…..__**damn**__**it**__. I hope she's ok.' _

Blindly he put his hand on the hood of a car and leaned against it, yelping and falling over in shock as a rich, cultured voice seemed sound from every direction.

"I would appreciate it if you would get our organic servo _off_ of my hood, human."

"What the hell? Who are you? "

"My designation is Mirage; Slipshift and Solarwind of the Fabricanix Clans were my Caretakers an—."

Tom groaned, interrupting the Italian sounding mech as he held his head cradled in between his knees.

"Great; I end up with the pompous, _spoiled_, **pampered** **prat**. Thanks; thank you whoever and wherever you fuckin are! "

Mirage stared at the human mech as he continued to mutter under his breath, his indignation at being called '_pompous'_ temporarily forgotten; who the frag was he talking to?

"Are you alright human?"

"I ju—It's just that—_augh_! I'm getting a headache. Could you transform into your…bi-pedal form or whatever you call it please? It's really weird to talk to some—alien being when you can't even see their face."

Mirage lowered and raised on his shocks in a vague pass at a shrug before transforming, an optic ridge rising in curiosity as the human stared at him for a while before vigorously shaking his head, mumbling idiotic nonsense about how Mirage couldn't be real. Said mech snorted in disbelief; he was standing right in front of the human, was he not?

Tom—on the other hand—was frantically trying to calm himself down; the events of the past 10 minutes effectively making him question his own sanity.

'_There is no way—__**NO**__**WAY**__ that this is real. Maybe I'm—in a __**coma**__ or hyped up on some really good pain meds. Yea; that's it; __**pain**__**meds**__. Now all I have to do is wake myself up and—.' _

"I wish Ratchet were here; while it is obvious that you are not of our species he would have probably read up on your kind enough to know how to handle a—an organic processor glitch such as the one you are experiencing."

Tom snapped out of his internal freak-out at Ratchets name, vague memories of the movie—'Wenna was always the big Trans-fan; he just liked the explosions—filling him with an irrational hope. Surely if he and 'Wenna got sent to the same place the first thing she would do was head towards the—Witwitchy?—boy's house; right? It was worth a shot at any rate, and he would _much_ _rather_ be with a friend who knew what the hell was going on than to try and figure it out on his own.

But first; he needed answers.

"Mirage, right?"

"Yes?"

"What state are we in?"

Mirage sighed; there went his hope that this—human warped like Skywarp was wont to.

"I believe that we are on a strip of land called Florida; somewhere in downtown Tampa."

"What's the date?"

Mirage huffed out a vent of air, the humans' lack of decorum starting to get on his nerves.

"I really don't want to be interrogated by _you_ human."

"That question plus like, 3 others then I'm done I swear!"

"…..March 20th, 2007."

"What is your alt mode; like the brand and specific make?"

"Red Alfa Romeo 8C competizione."

"You're an…Autobot, right?"

"Correct."

"Did you know that Optimus and them will land somewhere in California in a little over a month?"

Mirage froze as he stared down at the human mech; until his rifle was pressed against his chest, that is.

"How do you know that human?"

Tom gulped at the feel of such a large weapon against him; maybe he should have worded that last question differently. He winced as he was forced down onto the pavement by the weight of the weapon, a low growl sounding deep in the mechs chest as he narrowed his optics.

"_**SPEAK**_!"

"Alright, alright! Just don't crush me, would you?

Ok; it goes something like _this_…."

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight

Word count: 6,145

Next time: NOW the old couple comes in, more sparklings are given designations, Tom and Mirage work out some issues and we peak into Megatron's mind (you know you've wondered what a frozen Popsicle could possibly think about).

Please Read and Review my mechlings!

Until next time!


	4. Reformatting Wings

Fealion: I have returned!...Somewhat. I will update as often as possible but know that it will be very limited now that I am stationed on a ship.

Peoplz to thank!

**Lunar Mist:** True—the original Sunstreaker might NOT be, but there is a method to my madness, *_chuckles_* even if it's not readily apparent yet. Just be patient. And I'm glad you like my story.

**Lorna Roxen:** Thanks!

On to the Story!

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Sunlight streamed down onto green fields of softly swaying stalks, the slight hiss of the breeze masked by the loud chirps and whirrs of mechanical laughter as tiny silver bodies raced around the white farmhouse. Upstairs a young woman moaned as she came to, stretching with an ear-splitting yawn before climbing out of bed. Grabbing the donated clothing and a spare towel she headed for the attached bathroom, eager to take a shower as she thought over last night's events.

It had taken the combined efforts of both Hot Rod and Michael to keep her from pulling the trigger; the lack of sleep and unknown quantity of the man making her protective instincts go into overdrive. It wasn't until the older male—whose name was James G. Flynnin—had basically prostrated himself at her feet and swore that he would never do anything to harm the '_younglin's'_ that she lowered the weapon. After that they had silently crept back onto the paved road in their vehicle— and alts—and followed James' directions to the road that lead to his farm, Mrs. Flynnin waiting for them on the lighted front porch when they arrived.

Morwenna had stubbornly refused to go inside the house until she saw all of the sparklings settled, glaring at the older man in warning when he drew in a sharp breath at the '_mini-Hot Rods'_. After calming down some of the more nervous sparklings and settling them down into recharge the three humans left them in the care of the older mechs and made their way inside the house, Vultus and Carbon on their respective rescuers hips as they refused to be separated.

Morwenna had forced herself to thank the Flynnin's for allowing them refuge on their farm, barely registering the short tour of the house and room she would be staying in. She kept her awareness long enough to strip down to her t-shirt and snuggle Vultus into her arms before passing out, only waking once to let the young mechling out of the room once dawn broke over the horizon.

She sighed as she reached for the conditioner, squirting some into her hand and massaging it into her hair absently.

'_I'm going to have to apologize for my attitude last night; even if I was tired it was completely unacceptable. All they tried to do was help.' _

Humming softly to herself she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower and dried off, pulling on her underwear and clipping her bra before she shimmied the tight pair of dark-wash, boot cut jeans up her legs, the faded—yet still wearable—AFI t-shirt going over her torso a moment later. After running a brush through her hair and using some make-up that Mrs. Flynnin had—but had never opened—she slipped on some shoes and made her way down to the first floor of the farmhouse, her mood vastly improved by the good night's sleep and hot shower.

A loud whirr of joy and sudden weight against her legs alerted her to Vultus' presence, wry chuckling drawing her gaze to piercing green eyes.

"He's been tuggin at my arm to go and wake you ever since he first came down here; made Big Yellow disappointed when he wouldn't go out the door."

She grimaced; she hoped to Primus that he hadn't called the yellow saboteur that to his facial plating's.

"…Michael didn't tell you to call him that; did he?"

"No; just can't remember his name and….well…"

Morwenna shook her head and smiled wryly as he shrugged unapologetically, hiking Vultus up onto her hip. Humming softly she held up two fingers, grinning as he raised an eyebrow curiously.

"I have two things to tell you. First off; his name is _Sunstreaker_.

Call him 'Big Yellow when he's _not_ _around_ if ya must, but call him that to his face…" She grimaced playfully. "I'll let you think of what could happen."

"Two;" Her face grew grave and she adjusted the mechling in her arm and bowed at the waist, eyes downcast as she eased off slightly.

"I am sorry for last night. Two days of no rest and the late hour contributed greatly to my disposition—**but** I _still_ should have retained a level of restraint on my actions and speech.

And yet I _failed to do so_. It was a poor way to thank you for _such_ generous hospitality and sacrifice on your behalf and I can only hope that you will accept my apology."

They were both silent as James slowly walked up to stand in front of Morwenna, a broad hand clapping onto her shoulder and straightening her back even as her eyes looked at him in confusion. He grinned in response, lightly rubbing the tips of his fingers across Vultus' helm—like he would've ruffled his hair if he were human—as he spoke.

"I understand completely; Big Yellow and Michael filled in me and the misses along with Hot Rod about what ya'll did the past two days. You showed far more compassion and sympathy for these younglin's than what most humans would show; a rare breed these days."

Morwenna shook her head; she was no hero.

"I only did what I thought was right; no child—human or not—should have to go through with that. Not even the children of those you hate."

"Oh; what makes you say that?"

She smiled bitterly, the light of experience appearing and winking out of her eyes in a flash; James almost didn't catch it.

"The sins of the father—or mother—should _**NEVER**_ be reflected upon or paid for by the child."

He hummed noncommittally and guided her towards the kitchen with a gentle grip on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly when she tensed slightly at the touch. Morwenna repeated her apology to Mrs. Flynnin when she spotted the slim woman, grinning weakly when she laughed and waved her over to the table, telling her to sit down as she created a large omelet a few minutes later.

"You have nothing to worry about child; I remember when our Ben was still at home. I would jump into every fight he had as a boy and try to kick the crap outta the idiot who hurt my son, even when he pleaded with me to stop outta embarrassment.

But _that_ was just for _one_ child; you've got **forty** of them running around here that ya rescued and who depend on you. It's only natural that your instinct to protect is going ta be forty times as strong." She gently laid her hand on the young woman's shoulder, smiling as she looked at her in amazement. " Don't you worry none 'bout offending us; you just make sure that the little ones all stay safe, ya hear?"

"Thank you Mrs. Flynnin."

The older woman made a face, grinning when Vultus broke out into giggling chirps.

"Oh don't call me **that**; makes me feel older than I already am. My name's Ruth—Mama Ru to the little ones."

Morwenna smiled in thanks before digging in to her breakfast, gently stroking the back of Vultus' helm as he looked at the organic fuel in fascination. After she finished eating she attempted to help Ruth clean the kitchen—only to get shooed out the door by the willowy older woman.

"Those younglin's need ya more than I do; now go!"

Giggling slightly she made her way to where the other sparklings were gathered, yelping when they decided to glomp her all at once in a giant sparkling-pile. Laughing she started to run her hands up and down their sides, grinning as they chirped and whirred in helpless laughter, squirming to try and get away from the tickling touch. She looked up as a shadow fell over them, waving up at Hot Rod as he looked at them with amusement shining in his optics.

"Alright; everyone off before you squish the femme!"

There was a flurry of movement as the sparklings scrambled off her, tiny metallic servos patting every inch of skin they could reach in an attempt to make sure that she had taken no damage.

"I'm alright sweet-sparks. Have you been enjoying your time out in the sun?"

Excited chirps were her answer as the question was repeated in Sparkling-language, many of the sparklings flopping spread eagle onto the dirt while clicking delightedly as they basked in the warming yellow rays. Hot Rod hummed as he moved towards the open barn doors, waving for her to follow as he reached up to the hayloft and pulled down a cube of glowing blue fluid that looked vaguely like blue pop that had electric currents running through it.

"This is a cube of normal grade energon; I need to distill it into sparkling grade before it can be given to them but I need **you** to hand it to them."

Morwenna jerked her head to look at him in astonishment. "Why me?"

"The sparklings may _trust_ Sunstreaker and I because we are like them, but _we_ are not the ones who saved them.

**YOU ARE. **

If you give the sparkling grade to them and reassure them that it's alright and safe for them to do so they will be more likely to drink it without question. Many of their energon levels are nearing critical and their self-repairing systems are currently at a mere _21 percent _because of it.

The sooner we get some fresh energon flowing into their systems, the better."

"Well then; what are we waiting for?"

Hot Rod shook his helm as he pulled various pieces of equipment out of sub-spacing compartments, Morwenna looking on in studious fascination as he initiated the process. She made sure to ask questions and take notes on a pad that was in her room, the sangria mech answering indulgently once she explained that she wanted to be familiar with the process on the slim off chance that something happened to him.

Sunstreaker came into the barn about halfway through the process, watching them both with disinterest as they started dividing the sparkling grade into the appropriate containers, rolling his optics—a trick he picked up from watching the _organic_—as she asked Hot Rod to explain the formula behind the production of energon to her.

"I thought you said you weren't the thinking type _femme_."

Morwenna turned to look coolly at the yellow saboteur, Michael wisely turning around from the open doorway that he had just entered. No one noticed the willowy mechling as he slowly crept up the ladder that lead to the hay loft.

"I never said that I couldn't _understand_ it; just that I wasn't any good at it. For example; I am perfectly capable of converting binary into octal and decimal and any variation thereof. The problem is that I take longer than most _humans_ to calculate some of the conversions."

Sunstreaker just rolled his optics and glared at the organic. "What are you trying to say?"

Morwenna frowned, her stance shifting slightly as neither one of them backed down.

"In **other** **words,** my lack of _mathematical_ genius is like how _some_ people are slag at cooking."

"Cooking?"

"Think of it like someone preparing an oil cake."

"*_snort_* And I _suppose_ that excuse worked on you Hot Rod?"

The red mech shrugged, an impish gleam entering his optics as he looked at the annoyed mech.

"It's about as much of an excuse as the fact that _you're_ slag at performing more than the most **basic** of on-site patch-ups _Sunstreaker_."

Sunstreaker turned his glare onto Hot Rod as he smirked, a hissing burst of static prompting the red mech to push away from the table and take up a defensive stance in the middle of the room.

"I can kick your aft _anywhere_; _anytime_; any _galaxy_. Bring it '_Streaker_; that is, if your **mech** enough to do so."

Whatever scathing reply Sunstreaker had in store was lost as Michaels urgent voice reached their audial sensors, all three of them bolting out the door once they understood what the man was saying. Sprinting out to where Michael was standing they spun around and looked up to the eve of the barn, breathes catching at the sight that greeted them.

"Can't one of you guys do something?"

"Do something; I don't even know how the frag he got up there!"

Morwenna rolled her eyes and kicked Sunstreakers tire, smirking as he glared at her dangerously. Hot Rods optics narrowed as he rapped Sunstreaker up the head, leveling a glare of his own at the organic femme as he pointed to the roof of the barn.

"Would you two cut it out already! Morwenna; do you have any idea why he's up there?"

A small, thin mechling stood on the eve of the barn, his awareness limited to the vastness above him. Tiny metallic servos were stretched out to the sky imploringly as he looked to the sun with unwavering optics, a sad whirr escaping his vocal processors as a gust of wind brushed across his frame.

Morwennas heart clenched as she realized what he was doing; she had never _seen_ it, but she had read enough _about_ it to know what the little mechling was currently experiencing.

"_Sky Hunger". _

The worst affliction that could _possibly_ befall a seeker; longing to be in the sky with the wind flowing across their wings, only to be denied for one reason or another. She knew that said seekers could and eventually **would** go crazy if denied flight for very long periods of time. While there were records of grounded seekers that had retained their sanity after losing the ability to fly, they were given the same amount of pity—if not more—as those who had gone insane.

She prayed to Primus that this little seeklet was still only in the beginning stages of sky hunger, though she knew it would be worse than normal because he had _**no**_ _wings_ _to_ _speak_ _of_.

A shudder wracked her body in sympathetic revulsion. She _really_ didn't want to imagine the pain he must have gone through when those _humans_ removed them.

Morwenna watched with a detached sense of dread as the sparkling lifted his arms so that they were straight out on either side, pushing off the eve with powerful legs before gracefully falling towards earth. His tiny metallic face lit up with euphoria as displaced air rushed past his frame and wormed its way under the thin armor, caressing the delicate protoform underneath as he cooed delightedly. Moving without thought she rushed towards him, tackling him in mid-air and landing with a solid thump on their sides.

She'd rather it be a thump than a crash.

Keeping a firm hold on the sparkling she sat up, rubbing his helm in what she hoped was a soothing manner as he once again reached to the heavens; _how in the name of __**Primus**_ was she going to help this little one?

_**~….en-ergon...~ **_

Morwenna went stiff as the word—and voice—echoed through her brain; the lack of defining timbre and unfettered power leaving her in a sense of muted awe.

Who—or _what_—was talking to her?

'_Who __**are**__ you?' _

The presence spoke again; the depth of its power—like that of the mighty Pacific Ocean; water so deep that the human eye could not pierce its depth and more beautiful than the rarest coral—and emotion—_hope, power, love, regret ,loss, longing __longing__**longing**_—nearly overwhelming the human female.

_**~N-no t-t-time…...E-energon and met-metal are the key to…..to f-f-flight…~ **_

'_What kind of metal?' _

_**~…..D-do not fear…..w-will conv-vert any metal into….into needed t-type…..~ **_

'_How do I know that this will work?' _

_**~….T-t-t-trust…..~ **_

She bit her lip as a single thought ran through her head; could she trust something she couldn't see?

'…_Al—…Alright…' _

Morwenna gasped as her consciousness returned to the present, ignoring worried questions as she asked Hot Rod to fetch some sparkling-grade for her and Sunstreaker for any spare metal he could find—it didn't matter what kind. She gave a little '_oomph'_ of surprise as an upset Vultus ran full-on into her back, wincing slightly as he wrapped his arms around her neck in a tight hug. Tugging lightly on his arm she maneuvered both him and the seeker sparkling so that one rested in each arm, softly stroking their helms as she waited for the two mech to return.

"Michael; I need you to observe the other sparklings and bring any others that act like this little one to me straight away!"

"What makes you think there's more?"

Morwenna sighed as she maneuvered the now squirming seeklet so that his back was facing the open air, knowing that pressure against the area where his wings **were** would only make it worse. She also kept his helm pointed up towards the sky in hopes that it might calm him.

"Seekers are always sparked in Trines."

"Trines?" Morwenna rolled her eyes.

"Groups of three. If there is one seeklet—sparkling seeker—in our group I can guarantee that there are others, and even if—for some unexplainable reason—we don't **have** any other seekers we'll probably have one or two flyers and **their** sky hunger can be just as bad if not _worse_."

Michael stared at her for a moment before shaking his head; he was **damn** glad that he wasn't from a different dimension. Looking over the group of gathered metallic bodies he frowned as a quick glance revealed nothing; what happened if the sparkling really was the only one of these _'seekers'_? Looking over the group again he paid closer attention to how the sparklings were moving, sighing in relief as he spotted two others that acted like the little one in Morwenna's lap.

The two little mechs shifted on their peds in clear agitation, optics rapidly sliding from barn to sky to seeklet and back again. Slowly he walked up to the two sparklings, noting the exact moment they noticed him by the minute tensing of their frames. Lowering himself onto one knee he held his arms out to them, waiting until he could grasp both of their shoulders before speaking.

"Are you apart of the seeklets trine little ones?"

The mechlings tilted their helms to the side of confusion and Michael snorted out a blast of air; how could he ask the question differently if he didn't understand it himself? Focusing on the sparklings again he decided to ask a different question that would hopefully gain the desired effect.

"Do you want to fly like the other mechling does?"

_THAT_ got a response; both mechlings launched themselves into Michael and hugged his neck, chirping plaintively as he gently pulled them back. Smiling he opened his mouth to speak when he felt someone tugging at the back of his shirt, turning around to stare dumbfounded at the _**six**_ sparklings that stood before him.

He watched with a confusedly dazed expression as the lead mechling carefully pointed at himself, indicating the others standing behind him before pointing towards the two mechlings in his arms. He finished his gesturing by sweeping his tiny digit to point at the seeklet in Morwenna's arms, helm tilting to the side in an obvious question.

Michaels head tilted to the side with a question of his own; if they were the 'bot version of babies, how could they communicate like that?

"Michael!"

He jerked and turned to look at Morwenna, yelping as a rock hit him in the forehead, mock glaring at her as outbreaks of chittering laughter sounded around him.

"What was that for?"

Morwenna grinned cheekily, laughing as Michael stuck his tongue out petulantly.

"You were spacing out that's what! I'll answer any questions you _obviously_ _have_ later; are all of the sparklings currently gathered around you seekers or flyers of some kind?"

Uncertain, Michael turned back to the gathered sparklings and let out an unconscious sigh of relief as they all nodded their helms.

"Yea!"

"Well then bring them over!"

Michael shook his head at the exasperated enthusiasm in her voice, leading his little entourage of sparklings over to where Morwenna was still trying to calm down the sparkling in her arms. She smiled gently as Vultus spoke to him in rapid beeps, whistles, warbles and hisses of static that had the little one settling slightly. He looked at Morwenna with hope shining in his optics as she smiled gently at him; she prayed to Primus that listening to the voice was the right thing to do. The clanking of metal and shifting tires announced Sunstreakers return, the sour look on his faceplates letting her know that he did _**NOT**_ appreciate being treated like an errand boy.

Morwenna snorted and rolled her eyes; he needed to get over himself. Thanking Hot Rod for the energon she had the seeklet hold it in his servos, keeping ahold of the bottom so that he wouldn't drink it right away.

'_Now what?' _

_**~H-hold th-the…metal t-t-to his v-v-vertebral struts a-a-and let him d-drink.~ **_

Nodding slightly Morwenna did as the voice stated, watching with uneasy anticipation as the glowing pink liquid disappeared into his oral cavity and slowly made its way down his esophageal tubing. There was a split second of absolute silence before a soul-shattering keen of _pain_ rent the air, James and Ruth bursting out of their back porch to watch, horrified as the metal on the sparklings back seemed to split and shift.

'_STOP IT; STOP IT __**NOW**__! You __**NEVER**__ said anything about it __**HURTING**__ him!' _

_**~…I-it is necess-sary…~**_

'_LIKE HELL IT IS!' _

_**~….I c-cannot stop the pr—the process…**_

…_**..B-but…~ **_

'_But __what__?' _

_**~…I c-can t-transfer th-the p-p-pain…~ **_

Morwenna narrowed her eyes; she knew what it was implying. What it was asking.

'…_.Do it.' _

Immediately it felt like her entire back was on fire, a scream ripping its way out her throat before she pushed Vultus and the sparkling off her lap and hunched over, fingers digging into the dirt as she clenched her jaw. She gave a choked off whine as a fresh wave of pain swept over her, drawing in shaky breaths through her nose as the pain abruptly subsided. With one last fortifying breath she pushed herself upright, her smile trembling as she noticed the new wings that graced the tiny seekers frame.

"Femme."

Morwenna turned her head to look at the red mech, smiling at the confused worry that she saw shining in his optics.

"What happened?"

She shook her head.

"I'll tell you later. **Please** repeat the process with the other seeklets Hot Rod.

Michael?"

"Yes Morwenna?"

She smiled tiredly.

"Comfort Vultus for me would you?"

'_Give me __**all**__ of their pain.' _

_**~…..T-that w-w-would not be w-wise…~ **_

'_**Please**__; They've gone through __**enough**__ pain without adding this. I know I can't protect them from everything….. But I will __**NOT**__ let them be in pain if I can take it upon myself instead.' _

_**~…Y-you truly are a…an anom-m-m—anomaly h-human…~ **_

She smiled with just a hint of cheekiness as she hunched over again, in preparation for the pain.

'_That's why I was __**brought**__ to this dimension, no?' _

Morwenna got the faint impression of bemusement before the voice spoke again.

_**~…..I-indeed…..I-I w-will d-d-do as you a-ask….~ **_

"Now Hot Rod."

Her back bowed as pain slammed into her body, muscles quivering with the effort it took to remain still and silent as the sparklings self-repair systems reconstructed the wing structures, infusing every square inch of the now aerodynamic framework with ultra-sensitive neural wiring that let the newly restored seeker feel the slight breeze that danced around them playfully. Letting out a trill of pure joy he pushed off the ground and activated his thrusters, coaxing the other seeklet up into the air, weaving around each other in a complex aerial dance as they expressed their euphoria at being able to fly again. Seven pairs of optics followed their dance avidly, longing for wings of their own so that they might join them in flight.

"Morwenna."

Gritting her teeth against the pain she slowly looked up, eyes locking with the uncharacteristically apprehensive blue optics of a certain yellow mech.

"Maybe….Maybe we should stop—"

"**NO**! We do this _right here; right __**now**_!"

Morwenna hissed through clenched teeth, her glare softening as Sunstreaker flinched back minutely.

"I will be alright Sunstreaker."

She snorted wryly and rolled her eyes, smirking at him when he raised an optic ridge in silent question.

"I won't quit being a pain in your aft _that_ easily."

Sunstreaker snorted as he pulled back, though a faint glimmer of playful teasing was present in his optics.

"And here I thought I would be rid of you."

Morwenna laughed breathlessly; she didn't know exactly what made her go from annoying organic to comrade in the yellow mechs optics, but she was glad for it. The next wave of agonizing pain caught her by surprise and she gave off a high pitched cry before falling over on her side, tremors wracking her body as she curled into the fetal position with silent tears falling down her cheeks. She managed to keep it together until the seventh seeker began the process to regain his wings; then the seizures started. Desperately she tried to keep herself from flailing around dangerously, sobbing in great, gasping breaths as the pain again subsided.

Glaring at Hot Rod when he hesitated in picking up the next sparkling she nodded her head, finally letting out a shriek of blinding agony as the pain started once again, cursing in every language she knew as the torture eased slightly before starting again.

"_DO THE LAST TWO AT THE SAME TIME YOU FRAGGING PIT-SPAWN!" _

Morwenna _screamed_ as the pain doubled in intensity, eyes rolling to the back of her head as she felt something tear. The last thing she heard was the frantic calling of her name as a tiny metallic face buried itself into her shoulder and then there was blessed darkness; a swiftly fading voice putting her mind at peace.

_**~R-rec-charge now h-human...t-thank you f-f-or caring for t-t-them…Thank you..~ **_

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

The faint hum of an idling motor greeted Morwenna's ears as she roused from sleep, a tired smile crawling onto her face as she noticed Vultus lying next to her in recharge. Her smiled dimmed as she noticed the dried tracks of pink energon that carved their way down his metallic face. A shaky human thumb came up to rub them away tenderly before gathering the slack form against her side, lightly stroking his helm as she shifted so that she was sitting against the headboard of the bed.

Warm afternoon breeze flowed gently into her room through the open window and she closed her eyes, savoring the refreshing feeling of moving air against her skin. One green eye cracked open as she heard the soft thumps of someone landing on the roof, opening her eyes and smiling as one of the seeklets poked his head inside the window. Extending her hand out to him she waited patiently as he trilled something to the other seeklets before climbing through the open window, running up to her and pressing himself against the side that Vultus hadn't attached himself to in his recharge.

Slowly the rest of the seeker sparklings—and one flyer, she was pleased to notice—hefted themselves over the windowsill into the room, unconsciously gathering in their respective groups as they looked at her in worshipful awe.

'_Great; now they think that I can protect them from anything.' _

She snorted wryly.

'_No matter; I'll do __some__ major fuck-up at __some__point__ in time that will remind them—hopefully not painfully—that I'm only human…._

_This is interesting; a trine, a flyer and—one, two, three, four, five…a __**Quintad**__ gestalt?' _

Morwennas eyes widened before she smiled; she knew the perfect designations for them. Her smile turned into a grimace as she cleared her throat; screaming the way she had was never a good idea if you wanted to speak again sometime in the next decade. Unfortunately for her voice she has always been a little obstinate and she mentally shrugged; what she had to say was worth losing her voice for the next day or two anyway.

"How are my little seeklets and flyer today?"

The gathered sparklings cooed in obvious delight, her little flyer boosting himself onto the bed and sitting on her lap, giving off a pleased hum as she stroked his helm absently.

"_*chuckle*_ That good huh?...I have a question for you guys."

The sparklings tilted their helms to the side in question, one of them hugging on her hand in obvious enthusiasm and she laughed softly.

"How would you like to get designations like Carbon and Vultus here?"

There was a loud canopy of clicks, keens, whistles, whirrs and chirrs as they voiced their enthusiasm which jolted Vultus out of his recharge. The small mechling looked at the gathered seeklets in confusion before he turned to look at Morwenna, optics widening as it registered that she was actually awake. He let out a chirping cry of relief as he buried his face into her side, clinging to her as though she would disappear if he didn't. She chuckled as she gently stroked his back, letting out an amused snort at the other sparklings as they became impatient.

They wanted their _names_! Their rescuer _wanted_ them enough to give them a **name**! No one else had _EVER_ wanted them enough to give a name; _**EVER**_! The willowy seeklet from yesterday tugged on her hand and looked at her with wide, pleading blue optics; he hoped that he was named first!

"Ah; my little daredevil….. I think that your designation should be~…..Freefall.

Yup; ya definitely look like a Freefall ta me. What do you think?"

The newly named Freefall whirred in delight as he lifted off the floor, doing a couple of corkscrews in the air out of pure happiness before he landed again, pulling his two trine-mates up next to her and looking at her expectantly. Humming she observed the two seeklets as they shifted in nervous anticipation, trying to discern a noticeable physical trait or personality quirk that would fit them as she allowed her mind to wander. The shorter of the two was colored a light sky blue; the color picking up the light of the room and reflecting it in a bright halo off his frame.

It was almost as if….

Morwenna smiled and turned her attention to the taller seeklet, noticing with a faint sense of amusement that he wasn't even looking at her. Instead he had wandered to the bookself at the back of the room, looking at the unfamiliar objects in amazement before one caught his optics and he pulled it out with gentle servos. She was amused to note that it was a book about stars and the surrounding planets, the picture of a large red giant on the front striking her with inspiration.

"Alright; I have your designations!"

The larger sparkling turned his attention to Morwenna as Freefall chittered at him chidingly and she chuckled; they all knew who the leader of **this** Trine was.

"Okay; blue one! Your designations gonna be Skylight and you…..your designation is gonna be Starfire! Got any problems with that?"

The two seeklets shook their helms vigorously before they flew out the window with their trine-mate, eager to tell the other sparklings that the rescuer was awake and had given them names!

Morwenna laughed at their enthusiasm while watching them streak around one bright red corner of the barn, head banging off the backboard in surprise as the flyers face was suddenly right in front of her own. Hissing she rubbed at the back of her head before glancing down at the flyer, his tiny—and thankfully dull—back blades drooping in shame because he had made the rescuer hurt herself.

Humming softly she rubbed his helm, knowing better than to touch the delicate blades directly. A bright flash of red on the tips caught her eye and she smiled softly, gently tilting his helm so that she could look him eye-to-optic.

"Well now; I'd imagine that you would like your designation next, hm?"

Hesitantly he nodded his helm, optics widening in surprised confusion as she laughed.

"Alright then; how about Redwing?"

A brilliant smile slowly crossed the small flyers features and he burrowed his face into her chest, giving off a contented chirp as he drifted into recharge. Morwenna rolled her eyes even as her smile widened; she should add _'professional sparkling pillow'_ onto her résumé.

Nervous squirming on the side opposite Vultus reminded her of the other five seeklets still in the room and she turned to peer down at the sparkling that rested there, grinning when he pointed to himself with an authoritative air—for a sparkling anyways.

"So are you the leader of your little quintad—or are you just the bossy one?"

Said sparkling gave off an indignant chirp and pointed at himself forcefully while holding up the first digit of his other servo, blue optics glaring at her as she laughed heartily.

"Alright, alright; you're the leader! So what about your quintad-mates; what role to they fill in your little group?"

There was an explosion of movement as each of the other seeklets moved to do something that was unique to them.

One immediately rushed back to the bookshelf Starfire was at earlier, pulling out a book on the American Civil War and opening it to look at the content in obvious fascination. Morwenna smiled faintly; she knew which aerialbot _this_ one was.

A loud clanging drew Morwenna's attention, laughter bubbling out of her as she noticed that one of the sparklings had ambushed their shorter quintad-mate before jumping off, rushing head-long into the other seeklet who had been distracted by a bug that was crawling across the carpet. The comical sight of the sparklings trying to untangle themselves left Morwenna gasping for air as she desperately tried to control her giggles.

"Oh dear Primus!"

Taking a deep breath she motioned the seeklets closer to her, placing the lead sparkling onto the floor with his gestalt before she began to speak.

"Alright; Leader seeklet, your designation is Silverbolt.

The sparkling that was reading the history book—Skydive.

The seeklet that got distracted by the bug—Fireflight.

The seeklet who **pounced** and who **got** **pounced**—Air Raid and Slingshot respectively.

Any of you _NOT_ like your new designations?"

All of them started to shake their helms when Silverbolt interrupted, getting into what sounded like a heated argument with Skydive and Slingshot before Air Raid pounced on him. With a cheeky grin in Morwenna's direction he took off out the window, angry hissing sounding from Silverbolt's vocal processor before he leapt after his gestalt-mate. The other three seeklets looked at each other in confusion before Skydive shrugged dismissively, gesturing for the others to follow as he climbed out the window.

Vultus let out an enquiring chirp once they had left, Mowenna shrugging her shoulders as she settled against the backboard. Wincing slightly as Redwing shifted in his recharge she tightened her arm around Vultus, absently stroking his helm as she let her mind wander.

It was hard to believe how quickly sparklings had wormed their way into her heart; three days and already she would rather die than see them come to harm. Especially Vultus; she was probably more protective of him than anyone else. What those….those humans had done to him—what they were _going_ to do to him—still set her blood boiling every time she thought about it. Sometimes the intensity of her anger when the sparklings were threatened scared her; it made her wonder just how much of it was her—

Her door burst open as Hot Rod's holo burst into the room, James and Ruth not far behind. They stared at Morwenna in complete shock and her lips quirked upwards in a smirk, amused at their slack jawed expressions.

"Are you just going to stare at me all day? I do charge admission ya know."

Hot Rod cracked a smile and shook his head, gently scooping Redwing up from her lap as Michael walked into the room. The dark look on his face let her know that he was not amused.

"Are you going to explain what the hell went on yesterday?"

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

**Cold**.

Systems offline or operating at minimum capacity; all because of the slagging cold.

Then there were the fleshlings.

Vile, organic creatures that scuttled about this planet's surface like insects. Mindless drones compared to the might of the Cybertronian race.

Pain.

These primitive creatures knew nothing. They cut past his armor into the delicate wires underneath; down to his very protoform in the name of '_science'_.

Progress.

Torture if you looked at it honestly; their technology nothing more than an abomination of his pain. He longed for the day that he would be free of the icy prison that these…..these things kept him in.

Like they would even KNOW how to stop one of **his** kind if their planets poles hadn't zapped his telemetry and sent him crashing into their _slagging ice fields!_

And then there was the Cube!

Ignorant fleshlings playing god with the manipulation of the cube's energy, to close that it tantalized him with the promise of unlimited power if he could only free himself this fleshing made Pit!

Silent howls of pain filled his processor as they chipped off even more '_samples'_ off of his protoform, the white-hot wave of agony sending him straight into recharge.

When he onlined again there was only one line of code running through his processor; one sentence that made him determined to survive this Pit on organic soil.

'_I will kill them all.' _

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Tom moaned in his sleep as cool air rushed over his body, yelping as his seatbelt came undone and he was unceremoniously thrown onto a patch of grass. Propping himself up on his elbows he glared at the seemingly innocent Alfa Romeo that was parked right next to him, grumbling as the engine made a noise that sounded suspiciously like an amused snort.

Rising to his feet he brushed the dirt off his pants and made his way to the building that served as the rest area's bathroom. Kicking the red cars tire on the way past he smirked at the indignant honk before he went to take care of his "Daily leakage"—as Mirage so _elegantly_ put it.

Tom swore that the Autobot sharp shooter was **THE** prissiest car—guy—bot—_whatever_—that he had _ever_ met. The guy couldn't even drive through a puddle without complaining about it ruining his paintjob for god's sake! And don't even get him started on what happened when they got caught in a thunderstorm driving through Mississippi; you would think that the red mech had been dipped in acid with how he was going on!

'_I will be so glad when we meet up with Optimus and the others and he can become THEIR headache!' _

Running a hand through disheveled hair Tom reluctantly stepped back outside, groaning as he noticed the same black SUV that had been following them since Buford.

'_Don't these people ever give up?' _

His eyes widened as two men in suits got out of the vehicle, one of them carrying what looked like one of those cryo-gun thingies from the movie that the Sector people used on Bumblebee. Then he realized that they probably **were** those Sector people and he cursed, sprinting towards the prissy red mech and wrenching his door open.

"What the frag human?"

"Look; we need to get the hell out of here as fast as possible!"

"And why in the name of Primus—"

"Unless you want to end up like a giant popsicle you will move your ass NOW!"

The shot that clipped his passenger side mirror seemed to be the deciding factor as Mirage surged forward onto the grass, shooting across the open field and halfway down the access ramp back onto the highway in the amount of time that it took for the two sector agents to sprint back to their own vehicle and give chase.

"Who the Pit are they?"

"THEY are the same people who capture and torture 'Bee—"

"Those pathetic excuses of sentience torture the LAST YOUNGLING?"

Tom felt a pit of dread opening up in his stomach; he didn't know what had his cogs in a twist—since they _obviously_ don't wear panties—but he knew that it couldn't be good.

"Umm;…what's a youngling?"

Mirage's engine revved in aggravation, tires squealing as he hairpinned at a four-way, barely managing to avoid sideswiping a semi as he shot off in the opposite direction of their pursuers.

"A youngling—_human_—is the Cybertronian equivalent of a ten to seventeen year old earth child!"

Tom felt himself pale; ten to seventeen years old! The sound of sirens had Tom groaning as the SUV pulled up behind them, swearing as one of the agents leaned out of the window and tried to shoot out the red mechs tires.

"Faster damn it!"

Mirage pushed the limits of his alt to the max as they raced down the highway, barely avoiding getting T-boned by another SUV that came at them head-on.

"We have to lose them!"

"And how the Pit are we supposed to do that human?"

"Head towards downtown! By the time we get there, there should be enough traffic that we can lose them in it!"

"You had better be right!"

Mirage shot onto the off ramp that would lead them downtown, weaving through the droves of rush hour cars with a precision that could only be obtained by the mechs advanced processors. Tom gripped the steering wheel tightly as they missed slamming into cars by mere inches, cursing as he spotted a cop taking aim at their tires.

"Turn left NOW!"

For once Mirage did as he was told without question, a hissing burst of static blasting from his speakers as the bullet caught him in the side. Tom frantically thought of a way to throw off their pursuers as they sped through the maze of buildings, grinning as he noticed a construction site off to their left.

"Mirage! Head towards the construction site!"

"Towards what?"

"Just do it!"

With a sharp squeal of tires they shot towards their new target, cursing loudly as they were nearly T-boned by the same SUV that had been following them.

"What the frag am I supposed to do once we get in there?"

"Would you shut up for one second? Fuck!"

Tom's head whipped back and forth as they shot onto the site, grinning in relief as he saw the source of their escape.

"Can you aim your gun while in car mode?"

"WHAT?"

"Can. You. Aim. Your. Gun. While. In. Car. Mode?"

"It's called an alt-mode and yes; I can. Why?"

"Circle around and aim at the support beams that keep the spare beams and concrete pipes from flying all over the place. The resulting chaos should give us enough time to escape these crazies!"

He doubted that the organic's plan would work but he did it anyways, engine purring with laughter as the other organics tried to evade the onslaught in their inferior drones. Quickly he mapped the quickest route out of the city, roaring as they took off out of the city and into the distance.

It wasn't until they were halfway across Arkansas that Mirage felt comfortable with the distance they had placed between them and the people in the SUV, pulling off onto a rarely used side road as they thought about their near capture.

"Well; now we know why YOU didn't show up in any of the movies."

Mirage snorted but otherwise remained silent; what the human said was true. Without his foreknowledge the aristocratic mech doubted he would have known what the two humans from the SUV were up to until it was too late.

Knowing what they did—would do—to a YOUNGLING…..

Mirage felt a shudder rock his entire frame; who knows what they would have done to a mech like him.

"Hey; you alright?"

Mirage froze in surprise at the level of concern in Tom's voice. What kind of a human was he that he was more concerned about an ALEIN that he had barely met than himself?

"I'm fine….Which direction to we travel in now?"

"West; we need to go west."

Mirage revved his engine softly in confirmation as he pulled back out onto the highway, musing at the pensive expression that the organic now held. He barely knew anything about Mirage—about Cybertron!—and yet he already trusted the red mech to watch his back.

What was with this organic?

Word count: 7,470

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Next Time: Explanation, time skip, sparklings aaaaaaaaaaaand…BUMBLEBEE!

PLEASE read and review my mechlings!

'Till all are one!


	5. You're OUR Carrier

**Fea:** I'm BACK!...For now; I get to go home for Christmas and New Years and then I go sailing again; joy. Such is the life of a sailor. Hopefully these 2 chapters will placate you; with another 2 on the way!

People to thank:

**kitsune-miko-witch:** Thanks; the interaction I've got going between 'Sunny and 'Wenna is kinda like what it's like between me and my younger brother. I love him to death; but he IS a little brother. I warn you right now my Hot Rod will be a little…..different from the G1 version; hopefully you like him just as much.

**Ox King:** Hopefully this chapter doesn't disappoint. Enjoy!

**Alalaya21:** This is what happens next! Enjoy!

**Autobot Firekat:** I am, I am. It just might take a while. Enjoy!

**Kairi-loves-Sushi:** Lol—I thank you for you high praise. It takes a lot of work to keep everyone in character and not get them confused with everyone else so I appreciate knowing that I am managing to do so. Here is the next chapter and I hope it doesn't disappoint!

**WarriorKat21:** You don't sound offensive; I understand completely. I will be continuing the story, but there might be long periods of time in between updates and the eventual completion. All I ask is that you be patient; I WILL make it obvious if I am no longer able to continue with the story—that I promise.

Oh; and even more will be getting names in the chapters to come. Enjoy!

**Xireana Morinozuka Prime:** Ummmm; it isn't soon, but here's the update!

**angel897:** I am doing so in whatever spare time I manage to scrape up. Please enjoy what I have been able to throw together for you!

**magicrazy101:** I'm glad you think so. Enjoy the next chapter!

**Alabaster Princess:** I'm glad you like it; I tried to describe how sky hunger must feel to a flyer in a way that most people could understand it, so I'm glad I got the point across.

**Matron:** I hope that this chapter will answer some of your questions; as for Ben—he'll be showing up. After all; Ruth never said what he did for a living, now did she?

On to the Story!

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Afternoon sunlight streamed in through the open bay window, throwing a halo of light around the woman who sat in the window seat while illuminating the silver sparkling that snuggled into her side. Hot Rod's holoform stood off to the side of their little _gathering_, a softly recharging flyer held snugly in his arms as the older humans stood off to either side. An exasperated sigh drew attention to the younger male in the room, his dark brown eyes glittering in frustrated confusion as he spoke.

"I just don't get it 'Wenna; you put off answering the question by pleading the need for a shower and actual clothes; yet _after_ we let you do that your answer is _I don't know_? How in the hell can **THAT** be your answer; **you** were the one who fucking did it!"

Morwenna grimaced at Michael's tone before looking straight into his eyes, her own green orbs sparking in stubborn challenge.

"If you had let me finish _talking_ you would know what I **MEANT** by _I don't know_."

James cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he looked at Morwenna expectantly.

"And _what_—exactly—did you mean?"

Morwenna turned her icy gaze onto the older male, her defensive posture making everyone else instantly wary. What was she thinking about that was making her so tense?

"What I _meant_ was that I received help from a source that I have no name for; whether it be Primus, the Allspark, the original Thirteen or a fragging frameless spark—I just don't know. All I _can_ tell you is that it helped me when I had no clue what I was doing and kept the sparklings from experiencing pain!"

Morwenna's eyes lowered in defeated resignation.

"Isn't that enough?"

Michael stared at her in incredulous disbelief before he sighed loudly and covered his face with his hand, Morwenna's eyes going flat as she straightened even more. Hot Rod was abruptly reminded of a very pissed off Prowl and he shuddered; that kind of anger was scarier than Sunstreakers explosive temper.

"And what if that _source_—as you call it—had harmed the sparklings instead of helping them? Hell; it **DID** harm them until it started hurting **YOU** instead!"

"I don't pretend to know how that power—_whatever_ it was—works; I don't even know if it wasn't something malicious that helped us for some sinister purpose later on down the road. What I **DO** know is that I will do _anything_ to help those sparklings so don't you **DARE** insinuate that I would do anything to harm them or let them **BE** harmed!"

There was a short stint of silence as they digested her words, Morwenna slowly relaxing from her stiff posture as Michael made no move to speak again. The mounting tension was broken when she sighed and pulled Vultus into her lap, resting her cheek against the gentle swell of his helm as she spoke.

"I realize that—especially after everything that has happened to them—it might not have been the best decision to accept help from something I didn't understand, but I couldn't stand by and let them _suffer_ like they had been."

"It couldn't have been as bad as your—"

"You don't understand!

Flyers of _any kind _have an extreme aversion to being kept on the ground for too long; it is in their spark and _programming_ to long for the open skies. It's like…it's like keeping an artist from painting or a composer from writing music. They may be able to become content with other means of living, yet they will never experience the same amount of _joy_ in life as they do doing the profession that they love.

Yet a seeker is so much worse.

To deny a seeker flight….pit, to deny a seeker their wings is like denying them the right to _breath_; the right to _exist_ in the _first place_. To deny them the call of their spark—of the very essence of who they _ARE_—is like a human denying another the right to exist because of their religion or the color of their skin, or even because they were born with brown eyes instead of blue.

The mental and spark wrenching _AGONY_ that it puts them through….if I **HADN'T** taken the chance to regain them their wings, death would have been a far kinder fate than the hell they would've gone through."

"She's right you know."

Everyone's head turned towards the holoform, arms tightening around the flyer held in his grasp as eyes stared off into the distance.

"I might be one of the younger mechs in the Autobot faction, but I remember when a couple of Vosian seekers were dragged into a Kaonic mine and trapped there for _3 VORNS_. What came out of those tunnels when the enforcers finally _gave enough of a frag_ to order their rescue…it…it wasn't **NORMAL**.

Pit; I don't even think that they could even count as Cybertronian anymore; they were…..something else."

Silence reigned as everyone tried to digest the information that Hot Rod had given them, a wan smile gracing Morwenna's lips as she caught the holoforms gaze. Standing from where he had been perched on the edge of the bed Michael made his way over to the window, gazing at Morwenna in silent contemplation for a short time.

"You swear you will _never_ knowingly harm them?"

Morwenna blinked in surprise as she looked up into his face, resolve strengthening under his steely russet gaze.

"I'd rather be sent to the _Pit_ than let them be harmed."

Michael frowned at her.

"….Is that like the robot version of hell?"

Morwenna rolled her eyes as Hot Rod burst out laughing; well _**that**_ killed the mood.

"Yes Michael; it is _EXACTLY_ like the robot version of hell. _However_ did you guess?"

Michaels face turned red as Sunstreakers laughter joined in with his fellow Autobot, eyes narrowing at Morwenna's impish grin. Those same eyes widened as he caught sight of James and Ruth laughing at him behind their hands, diving at the green eyed female and grunting as she grabbed Vultus and dodged, hitting the window with a loud _'THUMP!' _

"Too slow!"

With that parting shot Morwenna raced down the stairs and out of the house, barely noticing how easily she hefted Vultus' weight as she dove behind the far side of the barn. Slamming her back against the wall she listened for the sound of pursuing footsteps, relaxing as seconds passed without any sign of the angrily embarrassed man. Shifting Vultus so that he straddled her hip she made her way into the barn, ducking as Freefall nearly glomped her head only to fly backwards as Fireflight barreled right into her chest.

Morwenna lay dazed as she tried to catch her breath, absently shifting her body as Vultus squirmed in discomfort at her weight. Slowly she became aware of a curious—tickling sensation focused on her chest, lifting her head to stare at a pearlescent white sparkling with a cute grey chevron. A bright beam of yellow light shot out of a hidden laser in his forearm, an adorably serious expression on his tiny face plates. Grinning she moved to sit up, laughing as he started chittering at her angrily.

"Now who do you remind me of? I have the perfect designation for you; that is, if you would like it."

His chittering increased in volume before a look of frustration crossed his features, a loud in-vent of air sounding before he did the one thing she didn't expect them to.

He spoke.

"C—_*khhsst*_—carrier must stay still! I can't help fix you if you don't let ME!"

Morwenna stared at him in dumbfounded surprise as he pouted cutely; look softening as she caught the flash of fear in his dark blue optics.

"Sorry; I just wanted to make sure that Vultus and Fireflight were alright."

"Why should you worry about 'flight? He hurt you!"

"_CARRIER~! _Slingshot's being mean!"

"Slingshot behave."

"Yea 'shot; _BEHAVE_."

"You too…..

You don't have a designation yet, do you femmeling?"

The brightly colored yellow femme smiled brightly while shaking her helm, the filtered sunlight making her glow brilliantly.

"Well….how about Sunstream?"

Large purple optics widened even further before she took off, skipping around her room in glee as she went on about how carrier had given her a designation first! Of course Vultus couldn't leave it at that and swiftly got into an argument with the femmeling about who got designated first as they zipped around the barn floor, nearly crashing into several sparklings in their heated argument. It stopped only after Morwenna raised her voice and told them to stop fighting, clutching her chest and hissing at the painful bruise forming as they rushed over to her, nuzzling either side in apology as the chevroned mechling scanned her irritably.

"No running; your elevated breathing levels would only make it hurt worse—and I don't want you to hurt carrier."

Mowenna smiled as she gently gathered him against her chest, stroking his chevron in a soothing manner as he tensed against her, wary of causing her further harm. Humming gently she leaned down so that her chin rested against a slim metal shoulder, squeezing him gently as she spoke.

"I have a question for you; two actually."

"What carrier?"

"Why do you call me carrier?"

The stockier mechling pulled away from her grasp so that he could face her, optics lit with hidden hurt and worry as he glanced up at her eyes.

"Do you not like it?"

Morwenna felt Vultus and Sunstream stiffen beside her as he finished the question, her words tripping over themselves as she hastened to reassure them.

"Nononononono no! It's not like that _**AT ALL**_! I ju—I mean, how can I-…..How can I be your carrier? I—I'm not Cybertronian. I'm just a human."

The sparklings churred in reassurance as they gathered around her, Vultus carefully laying a servo where a spark would be as he spoke.

"You saved us when no one else would; let us live when we just existed before. You take care of us and protect us against anything, even the hurt that we should've felt."

"But—Sunstreaker and Michael rescued you too….."

"But you rescued them first."

Morwenna was silent as she tried to digest their words, forty pairs of innocent optics looking on in cautious hope.

Was it right for her to let them call her _carrier_? Would it be what's best for them to let them call her something only a parental figure of their world should be called? They would live for thousands upon thousands of vorns; she would be lucky if she lived beyond one. Not to mention that she would be unable to provide them what they desperately needed; for all that they were earth-sparked, they were still Cybertronian to the very last micro-byte of their programming. What would happen when they needed new frames or updated firewalls for their processors?

Yet even as all this and more flew around inside her head it was the look in the unnamed mechlings optics that caught her attention; edges cycled wide with uncertainty and hope, the faint glimmer of saddened resignation growing ever stronger with each passing second.

'_Dear Primus; please let me be making the right choice.' _

"I would be honored if you would consider me your carrier; both you, and every sparkling who wishes it."

The sound of forty tiny voices cheering filtered through the barn as Morwenna hugged Vultus even closer into her side, the mechling in her lap gently tugging at her face to regain her attention.

"Yes?"

"What was the other question?"

She smiled gently.

"How do you like the designation Apollo?"

A large grin—almost too large for his faceplates—graced his features, making it feel like he was radiating happiness.

"I love it!"

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Sunstreakers laughter died down to a chuckle as Morwenna raced out of the house, stretching from where he had been 'napping' against the tree before heading towards the paved road they had escaped on days earlier, his—secondary—training kicking in with a vengeance as he neared the thinning trees.

Though he still hated keeping his _alter ego _of sorts from his twin, he was now gladder than ever that he had been forced into saboteur training alongside frontliner 'boot camp'; after all, who would expect a loud-mouthed, vain and incredibly **YELLOW** frontliner to be one of the Autobots most trusted and able-bodied saboteurs?

Curling in such a way that he was almost invisible among the trees he settled down to wait, positive that they would have company sooner or later. Never, in any of the escapes that he had ever heard, witnessed, or been a part of had there **not** been a pursual of some kind; the fact that they had made it this long without a peep from their former jailors unnerved him. It spoke of an organization that was calm, cool and calculated; the worst qualities you could have when it came to your enemies.

The sound of tires on pavement made him tense minutely as he looked towards the source of the noise, cursing as his worst fears were confirmed.

They brought the heavy artillery.

Shifting all of his focus onto getting out without being seen he slowly inched back towards the farm, breaking free of the tree line and transforming as he tore down the dirt road, comm. blaring as he contacted Rot Rod.

**: Get all the sparklings and humans into the truck NOW!:**

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Humming softly Hot Rod placed Redwing on the porch gently before he allowed his holoform to fade, picking up the still recharging flyer with careful servos before settling the tiny being in his arms.

"You're good with him; ever think about having any of your own?"

Hot Rod made a faint noise of surprise as he looked down at Ruth, optics misting in thought as he turned his helm towards the skies.

"I….I haven't—"

There he paused, a faint smile curving his derma plating as a certain someone entered his thoughts.

"Actually; I have.

But he is in the far reaches of the universe, fighting Deceptions on fronts far from this little corner of reality. Even if he were to somehow find his way here, we cannot conceive a sparkling without bonding and the blessing of the Allspark and _**WOULD NOT**_; not with this war."

Ruth nodded her head in understanding as Michael and James came to stand next to her, a thoughtful frown marring the older man's features before he spoke.

"What is bonding?"

Hot Rod chuckled as he adjusted the flyer in his arms, a vague sense of surprise surrounding him as he realized that this little being could possibly be big enough to fight_ Vortex_ one day.

"Bonding—in the nearest human terms—is like what _'marriage'_ is for you; yet it is so much **more**.

For us it is more than simply remaining faithful to one partner for the rest of our onlining; many couples in Cybertron-past have done so without taking that final step.

No: bonding is the merging and mixing of our very sparks, our_ souls_. It is to place the ultimate trust in your partner; let them in on your deepest and darkest secrets—things that even **you** may have forgotten. It is the most sacred form of intimacy on our planet—to abuse or take advantage of it on our planet means instant deactivation, no matter the rank, caste, politics or city of birth.

We literally become one with our partner; one spark split into two frames. To witness such a union that has been fully blessed by Primus—it is the most beautiful thing in existence."

"Hot Rod."

"Yes Michael?"

"You weren't always like this; were you?"

He smirked bitterly, the faint sound of cheering sparklings floating through in the background.

"No; near the beginning of the war I was a _'Bull-headed teenager'_, I believe is the term."

"What changed?"

"I—."

**: Get all the sparklings and humans into the truck NOW!: **

Hot Rod jerked at the urgency in Sunstreakers voice, gently petting the blades of the disturbed sparkling as he replied.

**: What's wrong?: **

The red mech swore that the frontliner snarled at him—though how it was possible over a comm.-link he had no clue.

**: It's the humans that chased us and ****captured****me****; if they catch us all of the sparklings will be dead inside an **_**orn**_**. NOW MOVE!: **

"MORWENNA!"

Said brunette raced out of the barn with a chevroned sparkling in her arms, Vultus and a tiny yellow femmeling running at her side.

"What's wrong?"

"The humans that captured Sunstreaker are coming!"

Green eyes went wide at the news before she was racing to the truck and ignoring the indignant cries of the one in her arms, pulling down the tailgate and hefting the three sparklings with her inside before turning back to the others.

"Everyone inside the truck; we're leaving for our road trip a little early!"

"Is it the bad humans?"

All forms of sight turned to look at Carbon, the smaller mechling whining at the uncomfortable attention before being swept into the safety of Michael's arms.

"Yes Carbon; the bad humans. They're mad that we escaped and are coming to take us back; but if we leave now we can run away from them so that they can't catch us."

"Why can't Sunstreaker and Hot Rod—and you—make them go away?"

Morwenna smiled sadly and the seeker that had spoken, opening her arms to let Silverbolt snuggle into her chest.

"Because 'Bolt; there are only 3 of us and a whole lot more of them. Plus Sunstreakers hurt; he can't protect us as well as he could because he hasta get fixed."

Sunstream piped up from inside the truck, light grey face plates screwed up in concentration.

"Is that why we're running carrier? So that Sun' can get fixed and protect us from more bad humans?"

Morwenna smiled, noting the faint look of surprise on Hot Rods face at the endearing term.

"Exactly. Now; everybody in!"

Obediently they got in line and were lifted into the truck, Hot Rod turning towards the older humans as he did so.

"Anything of sentimental value pack as fast as you can; these humans aren't above using "creative interrogation" in order to get what they want.

Especially when it comes to us; hurry!"

Bodies shaking in shock they hurried to comply, disappearing inside the house just as Sunstreaker rounded the last bend, vaulting himself forward as he transformed and landed in front of the others.

"Are the sparklings safe!"

"They're all inside the truck apart from Redwing; and he I will be transporting myself along with James and Ruth."

"And where the frag are they?"

"Inside: humans accumulate various things over the years that carry great sentimental value for them."

Sunstreaker let out a wordless noise of frustration, everybody jumping as the revving of powerful engines met their ears.

"Get those humans out here **NOW**!"

Rushing inside the house Morwenna quickly located the aging couple, yanking their bags away from them as she tried to head back towards the door.

"I'm not done packing!"

"THERE'S NO TIME! THEY WILL BE HERE ANY SECOND; WE HAVE TO LEAVE **NOW**!"

There was a sudden burst of gunfire followed by the discharging of an ion cannon and Morwenna cursed, flying out the door and across the courtyard, throwing the bags into the truck and diving in after them as she yelled at Hot Rod to transform. Ruth and James clambered into either side of his alt before he took off, Michael in hot pursuit with the truck as Sunstreaker distracted the humans from Sector Seven.

"SUNSTREAKER! MOVE IT!"

With one last parting shot he took off after them, all three vehicles tearing onto the highway as they tried to put as much distance between them as possible. Morwenna clutched the smallest sparkling to her as they wound up the mountain side, eyes widening in alarm as she noticed the RPG that was aimed at Sunstreakers damaged frame. Grabbing the automatic stuffed under the bench she took aim and fired, cursing as the truck slammed on the brakes until they were just out of the guns range, the human holding the weapon giving a jaunty little wave before aiming again.

"_SUNSTREAKER_! Move you stupid fragger! If he hit's you with that who knows what it'll do to you in your state of repair!"

There was a loud growl before the yellow 'bot transformed, cutting the truck in half and shooting at the Humvee behind it, dodging a burst of liquid hydrogen from an exploding drum. Pieces of armor and internal wiring went flying as he was clipped in the side, snarling as _TWO_ vehicles pulled up side-by-side.

"Hold onto my waist!"

That was all the warning Vultus and the others had before she leaned out past the tailgate, Starfire latching onto her waist as the other sparklings latched onto him, using all of their limited strength to keep her from falling out. Stretching herself as far as possible Morwenna held the weapon in one hand and aimed at the driver of one of the vehicles, snarling as he flashed her a cocky grin.

"Let's see you smile about this you fragger."

Swinging the auto downwards in an arc she let loose on the tires, watching them blow out and the vehicle lose control before shooting off the road and into the valley below, smiling grimly as Sunstreaker managed to take out the engine of the other vehicle before transforming again.

'_I will NOT let them be taken.' _

Hugging Starfire as she was pulled back into the back of the tuck Morwenna made her way towards the front before sitting down, gently petting Vultus' helm as the smallest ones sat in her lap and watched the forest that was swiftly disappearing behind them.

They drove as fast as the speed limit allowed them well into the night, Morwenna telling Michael to flash the lights of the truck and indicate a turn off as she recognized the sign. Pulling into the gas station Michael turned off the engine and dashed inside, mumbling something about 'bathroom' and 'food' and 'map'.

Mowenna motioned both mechs off to one side of the truck as they pulled up, sighing as they parked and the elder humans stepped out.

"Why have we stopped organic?"

And Sunstreaker goes right back to being annoyed with her; joy.

"We're currently just outside of Whitehall, Montana. I _know_ that if we go straight south through the Gallatin Canyon we'll hit Yellowstone Park just before sunrise. From there we'll exit the south entrance and keep going 'till we hit the main highway going west; then the highway going south again until we hit California."

James raised his eyebrow.

"And how long will that take?"

"Depending on how hard we push ourselves anywhere between 3-5 days, and that's if we _all_ take turns at driving the truck. We'll hafta go on a rotation: one person drives, one person sits in the back to keep the sparklings calm, one person '_drives'_ Hot Rod and the last '_drives'_ Sunstreaker.

We don't need to draw any more attention to ourselves than necessary."

Sunstreaker snorted, revving his engine in a growl as Morwenna slapped his hood irritably.

"And you know all of this _how_?"

"I lived here for 8 years Sunstreaker; I think I know how to get around this area better than you. _Especially_ since your navigation systems are still fragged.

Now; are we going to keep on sitting here like ducks or we gonna get our butts moving before the alien pohpoh come after us?"

There was complete silence for a second or two, and then…

"You are the _STRANGEST_ human I have _**EVER**_ met; you know that right?"

"I take that as a compliment."

Ruth giggled behind her hand as James snorted in amusement, Michael looking on in confusion as he came back loaded with food.

"What'd I miss?"

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

(1 month later)

A long string of Cybertronian curses left his vocalizer in code as he drove away from the downed cop car, faint yelling—_ "You stupid fragging yellow __**BUG**__! Come back and say that to my face plates like a __**MECH**__!"—_tickling the edges of his audials as he pulled back onto the desert highway. Slagging 'con; did he _want_ to be caught by the humans that had had been chasing him across this entire frellin' country?

The yellow Camaro huffed as he passed a lone flame patterned semi, absently musing on how _a_musing it would be for a member of his team to end up in those colors: green and purple do _NOT_ go well together, that's for sure. Maybe that's why the Constructicons looked so ugly?

Mentally shaking himself the Camaro brought up his navigation system, inputting the newly acquired address as he pulled up some sort of data search aid named "Google" and initiated a comm. uplink to Prime all at the same time.

**: Bumblebee; report.: **

**: Found a lead on the glasses Prime. Apparently the line of descendants who inherited them live in a state called California. There are 3 members currently in that family unit; a one Ronald S. Witwicky, age 46, male parental unit; Judy A. Witwicky nee Daniels, age 43, female parental unit and their son, a S—oh no.: **

**: What's wrong Bumblebee?: **

**: Samuel James Witwicky, age 17. Apparently he came into possession of the glasses sometime in the past and is now intent on selling them on some sort of auctioneering sight called "Ebay".: **

**: Has any human shown interest in them yet?: **

**: Thank Primus no; ****but**** I'll have to head towards the boy's location immediately if we don't want the Decepticons to acquire them first. It is an easy matter to hack into his account to get his place of residence and if I can do it then so than they…**

**Especially when they have Barricade and Frenzy as scouts.: **

Even though thousands of human miles separated him from where the others were orbiting the planet Bumblebee just _KNEW_ that Prime was doing what Prime's do best—brooding. Honestly; just because he was the last of the younglings doesn't mean that he was made out of spark-crystal!

**:….Very Well. You are to go ahead and make initial contact with the boy and comm. us for entry once you have him secured and in your protection.: **

**:Yes Sir!: **

**:'Till all are one, young scout.: **

The comm. line went dead as Prime cut the link, Bumblebee's reply echoing silently in his processors.

''_Till all are one Prime; 'Till all are one.' _

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Next Time: The events of the first movie are re-created—from the point of view of the Cybertronians.

Review my mechlings!

'Till all are one!


	6. Let the Battle Begin

Fea: And so begins the war for the future of the planet Cybertron—and our own.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

(April 29th, 2007)

"_Before time began, there was….the _Cube_._

_We know not where it comes from; only that it holds the power to create worlds….and fill them with _**life**_. _

_That is how our race was born. For a time we lived in harmony, but like all great power, some wanted it for _good_, others for _**evil**_. _

_And so began the _war_; a war that ravaged our planet until it was consumed by _death_, and the cube was lost to the far reaches of space. We scattered across the galaxy, hoping to find it and rebuild our home, searching every _**star**_**,**__ every _**world**_. _

_And just when all hope seemed lost, message of a new discovery drew us to an unknown planet called…_Earth_. _

_But we were already too late." _

Morwenna looked up from the screen of her i-pod towards the stars, speaking as she heard Hot Rod and Sunstreaker come up on either side of her.

"The board is set and the black king calls his pawns to him while the white king and his knights race to win the game; let the battle begin."

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

**: Blackout; it's time.: **

**: It's about time seeker! Enroute to Soccent Air Base.: **

**: Terminate any fleshies that get in your way.: **

**: I planned on it. Blackout, out.: **

Taking off from where he had been resting in the dunes he headed towards the base, spark pulsing in dreaded glee at the thought that they would soon learn the location of their master _AND_ the cube. It had been so long; so many wasted vorns floating uselessly through space as they tracked down the cube and their master. And he was stuck with that—that egotistical, overgrown _GLIDER_ (who amusingly enough looked like a human snack called a _Dorito_ in his earth form) known as **STARSC**—

"Unidentified aircraft you are in restricted U.S. military airspace. Walk ident and proceed east out of the area."

Like frag he would; those revolting squishies had something he wanted, and he wasn't leaving without it. Ignoring them he continued on his flight path, groaning as they squelched again.

"Unidentified aircraft we will escort you to U.S. Soccent Air Base. If you do not comply we will use deadly force."

Blackout had to strain himself to keep from falling out of the sky in laughter; like those carbon-based organisms had anything that could hurt him!

"We will escort you to U.S. Soccent."

'_Yes fleshlings; '_escort me'_. You will only bring about your insignificant deaths that much sooner.' _

Smiling sinisterly to himself he followed the two fighter jets to the base, snickering at the _'heavy artillery_' they lined the strip with. Touching down his sensors swept the area in amusement as they disabled any scanning equipment; their pathetic weapons wouldn't even sting.

"MH-53 pilot; power down now."

Deciding to entertain the humans Blackout complied, wondering what they would demand next.

"Have your crew step out or we will kill you."

'_Oh; I'll '_step out'_ alright.' _

Initiating his transformation sequence Blackout began powering up his pulsar cannon, laughing to himself in amusement as the squishies began shooting at him in a terrified panic. Letting loose a volley of gunfire he let off a pulse and made his way towards a primitive metal building, his sensors telling him the information hub he was searching for was located there. Shooting at random—just to watch the fleshings run around like frightened petro-rabbits—he eventually reached the curved structure, ripping off the roof before snaking small cabling down his wrist joints and linking himself into the feed.

Just as he had found something that looked promising—something about a Sector Seven—a stupid bald squishie cut the hardline, severing him from the network and vital information. In anger he took a pulsar blast to the fleshling, taking a sick pleasure in watching the dark haired one next to it explode like the flesh-bag it was as the other fell to the ground.

'_They will all die for denying me what I want.' _

Throwing the hub at something that reminded Blackout of a severely deformed Brawl he proceeded to deal out wide spread annihilation, tossing a couple of the primitive vehicles onto the retreating fleshlings, grinning behind his battle mask at the satisfying _'crunch'_. Pausing as he stepped in front of some more unflattering drones Blackout whipped his helm down as he felt something scanning him; un-sub spacing his chest cannon as he noticed the dark colored fleshling at his peds. Jerking sideways as one of the other squishies _**dared**_ to shoot him with a rocket he re-aligned himself and fired, cursing as the frame of the drone protected it.

**: Scoroponok! Pursue those fleshlings; leave **_**none**_** alive. I will finish up here.: **

**: As you command, Blackout.: **

Satisfied that his symbiote would carry out his mission, Blackout turned his attention back to the base. After all, he still had a promise to fulfill; and he was _always_ a mech of his word.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

(April 30th, 2007)

Bumblebee felt his suspension sag in relief as he drove into the town where the boy lived, slowing his speed as he detected one of the local enforcers beyond the next building, double checking the lettering to make sure that it wasn't the slagging 'con with a signal dampener. Idling at a stop light 'Bee reflected on how frustrating the last earth month had been; not only did those _humans_ in the black vehicles refuse to leave him alone, he had been _utterly convinced_ at one point that he had felt the Allspark while driving over Hoover Dam.

Recognizing the father from his state driver's license Bumblebee pulled into a nearby parking lot, directing his audial sensors towards the school as he tried to locate the boy. Catching sight of him out of one of the ground floor windows Bumblebee concentrated on what was being said, managing to catch the tail-end of the conversation.

"—bout a dream; a boy's dream and a man's promise to that boy.

He looked me in the eye and he said, _"Son, I'm gonna buy you a car, but I want you to bring me two thousand dollars and three A's",_ kay?

I got the two thousand and I got two A's, okay? Here's the dream; your B minus_***phfft* **_dream gone. Sir, just ask yourself; what would Jesus do?"

There was a brief stint of silence as the boy stared intently at the other human in the room. Then there was a faint rustling of paper as the other human wrote something on it.

"A minus."

"YES!"

Bumblebee pulled back his sensors and just stared at the car in front of him; well, nobody could accuse the boy of being boring. He sort of reminded him of Bluestreak actually, though he didn't talk nearly as much. Though the _'fast talking'_—as humans put it—was all Sideswipe;…. Primus he hoped the boy was more like Bluestreak. He couldn't handle another prankster!

At least he could protect the boy better this way; after all, what better way to protect him than being his car?

Watching as the boy hopped into the passenger's seat of his father's green—Porsche, was it?—Bumblebee waited for them to get a block ahead before following, tensing as they drove into a Porsche dealership.

'_Please not the femme car, not the femme car, not the femme car, __**DEAR PRIMUS DON'T LET HIM GET A FEMME CAR!**__' _

Not that Bumblebee was insulting the femme's _OR_ the cars; both were very pretty, but he already got enough teasing from the other younger members of the Autobots about not being out of that _"cute youngling stage"; _he didn't need to add insult to injury.

Sagging on his shocks in relief as they drove out again, the father going on about it being a joke, Bumblebee followed them to a used dealership—that for some strange reason had an ostrich caged inside a small pen.

Humans were so—odd sometimes.

Driving past as the father's car pulled into the front—hopefully the melting clown didn't notice that he didn't have any driver—he drove around the adjoining block, pulling into an empty space next to one of the cars sold at the dealership as the owner was talking rapidly. He sniggered as the humans _"Mamee" _did a rude human gesture; Bumblebee wouldn't want to be related to him either.

"This ain't bad. It's got racing stripes."

Bumblebee ignored the rambling man as the boy leaned inside his open window before popping open his door and hopping into the seat. He had a hard time keeping still—his plan was working!

"Feels good."

Bumblebee shuddered minutely at the shock that ran through him as the boy brushed dirt off his Autobot symbol; _THAT_ had never happened before.

What was that?

Bumblebee was distracted from his musing as things started going downhill; why were humans so slagging greedy? Huffing as the boy stepped out, Bumblebee watched as the owner tried to sell him the ugly yellow bug that sat parked next to him.

'_That is __**MY**__ human, thank you!' _

Popping open his passenger side door as the boy closed the other one he made sure to hit the beetle nice and hard, sending both it and the greedy human skidding a couple of feet. Frustrated at the humans lack of reaction he decided to step it up, tuning into a local station and upping the strength on the supersonic frequency. Glass burst everywhere as the humans dove for cover, the owner looking suitably shaken as he stared, horrified at his_ 'damaged goods' _before whipping around.

"Four thousand!"

If Bumblebee were in his bi-ped form he would've been grinning in satisfaction; he knew that the humans would see his way eventually.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Scoroponok tracked the fleshlings long into the night and into the next rising of their sun; mere joors for him, but the humans were starting to lag at the lack of recharge; now would be the perfect time to strike. Yet he held back; he wanted them to be more—_complacent_ than they were now, some of them jumping at the slightest sound. Poking his head out of the sand he monitored their conversation, determining the one with the scraggly patches of fur on his head and face to be the leader.

'_Termination in progress.' _

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Frenzy grumbled to himself as he waited for the humans to become complacent enough to dismiss his movements. That fragging 'copter couldn't do anything right! All he had to do was find one piece of information—one! And what does he come up with? Nothing; that's what!

Never send a frontliner to do a Intel Specialists—_*cough*_hackers_*cough,cough*—_job!

Getting frustrated with being in his alternate state Frenzy transformed, weaving around and through the humans as quietly and carefully as possible until he came to the elevator that lead to the planes mainframe. Groaning he transformed as one of the fleshy servants came inside the elevator with him, shuddering as the thing looked at him before bending over to actually **touch** him and _**pick him up**_.

It made him want to purge.

As soon as the femme fleshy put him down he transformed and hid in some of the framing as the fleshy moved again, hissing at it when it stood right in front of him and didn't even notice.

'_Primitive flesh-bags!' _

As soon as it headed back up the elevator he was in front of the mainframe, gaining access in the time it took most mechs to shutter their optics. Within forty astroseconds he had found the file they needed and initiated download, crying out as information flooded through his data wires and into his processor. And 'bots wondered why he loved Intel; this was better than high-grade! Remembering Starscream's—for once well thought out—plan Frenzy uploaded a basic Decepticon drone program and told it one thing; keep the flesh-bags from communicating with each other.

Receiving a confirmation ping Frenzy relaxed as he let the raw data flow through him; jerking from his haze as the stream cut off just before completion. Looking at the data on the screen he tilted his helm to the side in curiosity.

"Witwicky?"

Then the _'Termination Idle' _window popped up and Frenzy hit his helm against it in frustration.

'_Stupid. Fraggin'. Fleshies!' _

A faint sound had him climbing up the shelving and into the wiring of the overhead, shooting some razor disks at two humans when they tried to take him out. Dropping from the overhead he poked one of them to make sure they were dead, cursing as another clipped him with their weapon before he managed to kill that one as well, vaulting onto some metal boxes as he transformed and watched the humans walk right passed him.

'_Aftheads; wouldn't notice a bomb going off next to them.' _

Frenzy resigned himself to waiting as the plane began its emergency decent, smirking as he picked up Barricades energy signature 5 Hics and closing. Thanking Primus that he wouldn't have to try and escape this fleshy-infested tin-can Frenzy made his way towards the landing gear, waiting until the initial uproar had died down before exiting and swiftly entering the frame of his partners' alt mode.

**:Frenzy; report.: **

Frenzy initiated a rude human hand gesture as he spoke, still angry about them cutting off the data feed.

**%Stupid insects tried to shoot me!**

**Found a clue to the Allspark. **

**Witwicky man-he has seen our language. **

**Witwicky search.% **

Initiating a search on the police mainframe he soon brought up the eBay page for one of the Witwicky's, the picture of cracked optical enhancers catching his attention. Narrowing in on the faint etches in the glass he set about deciphering them, nearly offlining in surprise as he was able to make out the glyphs for _"Allspark",_ pulling up the GPS for the humans' house as he spoke.

**%We must find LADIESMAN217.% **

As he peeled off the runway, Barricade _hoped_ that they would arrive there before the _BUG_ did.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Bumblebee sulked from his position on the driveway; that boy—Sam, as he'd learned—was worse than Optimus and Ratchet before they had gotten together! He hadn't even asked if he could stay over; which, from the femme's pheromone levels, she wouldn't have objected too. Instead he has to act all awkward and just drive awa—.

There was an inquiring ping on his comm. and Bumblebee groaned as he realized the time.

'_I guess I'm stealing myself.' _

Starting his engine he gave it a good rev to wake himself up, groaning as the heard Sam yelling and banging around the house, following on his mother's bicycle as he pulled out onto the street and down the road.

'_I'll just have to lose him on the way to the yards; I can't miss this report to Prime!' _

Narrowly missing being clipped by some passing boxcars Bumblebee stopped for a moment before spinning his tires, gaining enough momentum to break through the gate as he raced to get to the highest point. Transforming he rolled his shoulder struts, glad to be out of his alt mode after so long, even if it was for a limited time. Turning he activated the beacon and shot it into space, contacting Prime on his comm. at the same time.

**:Bumblebee to Prime; have the boy in my protection. Posing as vehicular mode of transport for the time being.: **

**:Understood; we will arrive within 80 Hics of your current location at the ending of their next day cycle. And Bumblebee?: **

**:Yes Prime?: **

**:I am giving you the go-ahead to reveal yourself to the boy; get him us to one of us before he meets the rest.: **

**:…You just don't want to deal with him **_**'freaking out',**_** as the humans say.: **

There was a low chuckle from the other end of the line.

**: Too true. Prime out.: **

Bumblebee sighed; the sooner this was all over, the better. Barking drew his attention to the entrance of the junkyard and he scanned the area, groaning as he recognized Sam's heat signature. Transforming he rushed to where the boy was, busting through a wooden wall and driving the dogs off, cursing as Sam ran in a panic—straight into local law enforcement.

'_I need to get out of here; I'll return for him later.' _

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

(May 1st, 2007)

Scoroponok followed them at a distance as the fleshlings started moving again, optics narrowing as he realized that they were trying to reach a communications terminal. Silently maneuvering so that he was in front of them he waited, pushing over the tower just as they were about to attempt contact. Sniggering at their panic he got into position behind the leader, silently lifting his tail out of the sand and extending the barb, intent on stabbing it—until the dark colored fleshy screamed like a femme that is.

He jerked back in shock at the sudden noise, burrowing under the sand as he regrouped himself for another attack, circling around before choosing his next victim. Bursting out of the sand he terminated the red-furred one, whipping its carcass around to dislodge it from his tail, the other flesh-bags running towards some rundown buildings at the base of the dunes. Swiftly he gave chase, burrowing breifly before bursting out into an empty courtyard, hissing as they started to shoot at him from behind broken walls.

Returning their fire he concentrated on the main grouping of fleshies, smirking to himself as a couple of them went flying through the air—though he was irritated that more kept on popping in and out of sight like some crazed turbo-fox.

Rolling as an explosion went off right next to him Scoroponok kept on firing, hissing as a canister that one of the fleshies threw started emitting and orange cloud of smoke, obscuring his vision. Confusion set in as he detected multiple non-threatening lasers on his frame, crying out as two of their flyer drones started shooting at him in rapid bursts, the bombs flipping him onto his back.

'_FRAGGIT! THAT HURTS YOU PATHETIC FLESHLINGS!' _

Struggling, Scoroponok had almost righted himself again—when he was hit by something that _**burned**_, melting all the way down to his protoframe. Realizing that the table had been turned he retreated as soon as they stopped firing, hissing as his tail detached and pain shot up his sensory net.

**:Scoroponok to Blackout: **

**:What is it?: **

**:Termination mission; failure. Fleshlings have heat-concentrated ammunition that can pierce Cybertronian armor.: **

**:Slag it to the Pits! I will inform Starscream; rendezvous 40 Hics from you position.: **

**:Understood; Scoroponok out.: **

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Bumblebee sighed as he made his way back to Sam's house; protecting a human was harder than he thought. Exactly how was he supposed to get the boy to listen what he said anyway? He didn't doubt that the boy would still be shaken up about what he had most likely seen last night; after all, seeing your car transform into a robot and then having that car come back for you wouldn't be the most reassuring thing in the world.

Especially with all those "_Damn-it-the-aliens-gonna-eat-us!" _movies that humans have, which he didn't understand. None of the organic races he knew of would want to do that to a human that they met; if for no other reason than they would think that eating one would lower their intelligence or some random reason like that.

Clearing his processor as he arrived at the house he rolled onto the grass below the kitchen, revving his engine to get Sam's attention, sniggering at the boys' reaction as he called his friend in a panic. Frowning as he was referred to as "Satan's Camaro"—it should be "Satan's Saline" in reference to Barricade—'Bee revved his engine again, smirking as he heard the boy scramble to the front of the building.

Rounding the side of the house as Sam took off on the bike he followed at a sedate pace, amused that the boy thought he could out run him on a human powered vehicle. Though he didn't understand why some of the other humans were looking at him strangely; he was on the sidewalk, so what?

Wincing as Sam flipped _off_ his bike before slamming to the ground in front of the femme—Bumblebee noticed the look of concern on her face—he made sure to scan the boy before following again, grateful that the fall had only left a couple of bruises. Losing sight of Sam as he entered the supports of an over-pass 'Bee circled around, cursing as he caught sight of a black and white saline, sensors confirming it to be Barricade.

'_Frag it!' _

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Barricade drove into the town where the boy lived, _beyond_ irritated at the humans on the road. Stupid insects kept on slowing down whenever they caught sight of him, making the journey _twice_ as long as it should be—until he figured out that the lights and sirens of his alt would make them move out of his way that is.

Stopping at an intersection—to track the boy through various surveillance systems—he sneered as a dark-haired femme insect nearly rammed into him with a pathetic blue earth vehicle.

'_Slagging insect.'_

Taking off with a squeal of tires he headed in the direction of the traffic camera that caught sight of the boy, growling as he noticed the bright yellow alt form of that stupid Autobot. Smirking as the boy went one way and his _yellow_ _shadow_ went another Barricade circled around to intercept the human, knocking him off his bike when it looked like he was going to pass him. Deciding to mess with the fleshling he revved his engine and shot forward a few feet, knocking the thing onto its aft, advancing whenever it tried to scuttle away. Extending his grappling hooks managed to freak out the fleshling enough for it to ask him what he wanted; and who was he to deny him his answer?

Transforming he leered down at the human, rolling his optics before running forward and knocking it off its feet as it tried to escape. Kneeling in front of the drone the fleshling had landed on he crouched to make sure that it couldn't escape, slamming a fist down as he spoke.

"Are you users name LADIESMAN217?"

"I don't know what you're talking abou—."

"Are you users name _LADIESMAN217?_"

"Yea."

Barricade growled.

"Where is the eBay item 21153; where are the _glasses_?"

Instead of answering the insect managed to escape backwards over the hood of the drone, Barricade flipping the car in frustration as he once again gave chase. Flipping two cars over as he caught up to the fleshling he noticed that the femme from earlier was with him; not that it mattered.

He was _so_ close—and then the _**BUG**_ showed up.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Bumblebee watched the interaction between Barricade and Sam, every muscle cable ridged with tension as he watched Sam fly through the air before landing on a car and be pinned by the 'con. Letting a forceful ex-vent of air out of his systems as Sam managed to break free he shot forward, barely taking note of the femme as he whipped the back end of his alt around to sweep Barricade off his pedes. Screeching to a halt in front of Sam and the femme—Mikaylea?—he opened the passenger's side door, revving his engine impatiently as they hesitated.

After they had finally gotten inside Bumblebee slammed the door closed and floored his gas pedal, shooting off onto a random side road with Barricade in hot pursuit. Ignoring the thoroughly freaked out humans sitting in his seats he burst into an abandoned warehouse through one of the windows, weaving around the pillars before shooting out the other side. Using the small window he bought by making Barricade spin out he tried to hide in the shadows of a building, shutting off his engine and locking the doors to keep as quiet as possible.

Not that it mattered; Bumblebee felt the sweep of his sensors wash over him and cursed, lighting off his engine and shooting out from behind the Saline before he could block him in. Using the momentum of his turn to deposit the humans on the ground he transformed, stepping in front of them as Barricade headed in their direction.

Barricade used the momentum of his transformation to tackle the bug, furious that he had interfered before he had gotten the desired information. Transforming one of his servos into a mace he advanced on the Autobot, knocking the door-winged fool into a petrol tower in an explosion of flame, ejecting Frenzy to deal with the squishies.

While his partner dealt with the yellow nuisance Frenzy went after the two retreating flesh-bags, catching the mech of the two by the ankles of his flimsy blue plating, snarling in annoyance as it slipped off and the mech took off running again. Chasing him he barreled into his back as he paused at a small fence, causing him to fly over the fence and roll down and embankment, pinning him against a larger chain-linked fence that lined the property. He was so intent on trying to find out there the fleshling kept the glasses he didn't notice the femme running up with a hand-held saw, screaming when she cut him off the other fleshling and separated his helm from his body. Growling in pain and anger he re-arranged his lower mandibles so that he had spider-like appendages, yelling in surprise as the mech punted him out of site.

Landing next to the femmes bag he took a moment to re-orient himself before walking over, looking inside to see if he could find anything of interest. After a breem or two of searching he came up with the femmes phone, scanning the specifications easily before transforming, dampening his signal just before the yellow bug got to him, smiling to himself as she picked him up.

'_Perfect.' _

Turning back to Sam and Mikaylea after he had taken care of Barricade Bumblebee transformed his servo back to normal, watching Sam tentatively move closer as he stood at the top of a concrete embankment.

"What're you doing?"

The femme was scared; she had every right to be, but it wasn't like he was going to hurt her. He wasn't a 'Con—_or_ one of the twins.

"I don't think it wants to hurt us or it would've done that already."

The femme gave a disbelieving snort.

"Really? Well do you speak robot because they just had a _Giant Toy __Death Match_!"

"I think it wants something from me."

"_What?"_

"Because the other one was talking about my eBay page."

The femme looked at Sam like he was crazy before throwing her hands up in frustration.

"You are _the_ _**strangest**_ boy I have ever met."

"Can you talk?"

Bumblebee answered with a range of clips from various local radio stations, pleased when Sam seemed to understand.

"So you-you talk through the radio?"

"_*cheers in the background* Thank you; you're beautiful. Y-you're wonderful, you're wonderful."_

"So what was that last night; what was that?"

"_Message from Starfleet—from the unanimous vastness of space—rain down like visitors from heaven hallelujah." _

Slowly Mikaylea sidled up next to Sam, still intensely wary of him, but it was better than the distance she was keeping before.

"Visitors from heaven-_wha_…. What are you like an alien or something?"

Bumblebee pointed at her as if to say_ 'correct'_, transforming and popping open his door as he played one last clip.

"_Any more questions you wanna ask?" _

Sam's eyes lit up in recognition.

"He wants us to get in the car."

Mikaylea gave a disbelieving half chuckle.

"And go _where_?"

Sam turned back to her, stubborn determination and hope coloring his features as he held out his hand.

"50 years from now when you're looking back on your life don't you wanna say you got the guts to get in the car?"

For a moment it looked like the femme wouldn't get in before she took a deep breath and did just that, Sam following right behind her. Driving to where her bag and Sam's pants were he stopped to let her gather them up, frowning momentarily at the unidentifiable blip that showed up on his scanners.

'_It's probably nothing.' _

Feeling his door close 'Bee started driving again, getting on the main road of town as he watched his two charges amusedly; you'd think that his seat belts would suddenly come alive and start strangling them with how they were acting.

"The car's a pretty good driver."

Sam made a noise of agreement as Bumblebee mentally snorted; of course he was a good driver—he has spent his entire life cycle in one ground form or another, he would _hope_ he was good at it by now.

"Why don't you go sit in that seat there?"

An icredulous look crossed Mikaylea's face.

"I'm not gonna sit in that seat; he's _driving_!"

Sam made another noise of agreement before a nervously courageous look sprung on his features.

"Well maybe you should sit in my lap."

"Why?"

"W-uh well I have the only seat belt here, ya know. Safety first."

"Yea; alright."

Bumblebee chuckled to himself as Mikaylea moved to his in Sam's lap, the look on his face plainly stating that he didn't think that his plan was going to work.

"You know that seat belt thing was a pretty smooth move."

Sam chuckled nervously.

"Thank you."

"You know what I don't understand?"

"Hm?"

"Why if he's supposed to be like this super advanced robot does he transform into this piece of crap Camaro?"

Bumblebee slammed on the brakes as he realized the truth of her statement; a 'bot would be made fun of for _VORNS_ if he let himself get to this level of degradation on Cybertron and he had been running around for half a **vorn** like this on earth. He couldn't let Prime see him like this! Thankful that the humans had gotten out when he stopped—though for some reason Sam thought that it was Mikaylea's fault—he sped off to find a suitable replacement, thanking Primus when he spotted a newer Camaro—thankfully in his colors—driving in his direction.

Balancing on his right wheels he scanned the car as he passed, immediately adjusting his armor to the new form as he turned back around to pick the humans up, pleased with their awe-struck expression. Taking them out to a museum that was closed for renovations he had them step out and look to the stars; it was time for the rest of the Advance Team to arrive.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Next Time: 'Wenna and 'Sunny meet up with the Advance Team who learn of the existence of sparklings and a 'con—or two—is converted to the Sparkling cause.

Review my mechlings!

'Till all are one!


	7. Meeting, Teasing and Converting

Fea: I decided that I liked G1 Ironhide's accent better than the movies, so I changed it (I apologize ahead of time if you think I butchered it). Plus I always thought that the black frame fit the accent better than the red van one.

In case anyone has forgotten or is prepared to call me out on it; _I DO __**NOT**__ OWN TRANSFORMERS!_ If I did the council would've been assassinated when _NOVA_ was still Prime.

Anyways; peoples to thank!

Forgot to do this last chapter:

**:Allspark:—comm. link **

**%allspark%—Cybertronian **

#allspark#—Bond link

**^Allspark^—Texts (like on a phone) **

"_Allspark"—Person on the other end of the phone conversation_

Hic—roughly 1 kilometer (.62 miles)

Vun—roughly 1 hectometer (328.08 feet)

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

The young woman shifted restlessly in anticipation, gripping the steering wheel of the Gold Lamborghini Reventon as she checked passing highway signs every second. There was a hiss of static from the speakers before a low chuckle filled the interior of the car at her impatience, cutting off in a yelp as she smirked and smacked the appendage she was holding.

"**Oi**! No hitting the sensitive interior!"

"Oh; so you _admit_ you're not as tough of a mech as you pretend to be?"

The voice huffed as the car merged onto a turn-off, stopping at a red light as the woman smirked victoriously.

"I will **NEVER** admit that; but _damnit_ organic, hitting the interior of a mech is like hitting a human male in the reproductive anatomy—it fragging hurts!"

"Oh; and what about **YOUR** '_reproductive anatomy'_?"

"That hurts even **worse**!"

The woman laughed as the light turned green and they made a right turn, silence reigning momentarily before the voice spoke up again.

"So what exactly are we doing out here 'Wen?"

"…..I know that when Bumblebee takes Sam and Mikaela to watch the others land he takes them to Griffith Observatory, where they can see the other four of the advance team enter the atmosphere. After that I lose them until they show back up at Sam's house—somewhere in West Adam's District—by which time it doesn't give us _ENOUGH_ time to explain everything that we need to."

"So we need to catch Bumblebee at this Griffith place so that he will lead us to the others…

Where do they all land anyway?"

The woman suppressed a snort of laughter at the question, waving her hand helplessly at the voices questioning grunt as she tried to regain control of herself.

"Sorry Sunstreaker; I just got this really _**ODD**_ image of Ironhide in a sparkly pink tutu, complete with wand and wings….and for some _strange_ reason—**damn** my overactive human imagination—he was hitting Starscream over the head with it so that the fairy-dust would make him _fly_!"

Sunstreaker said nothing as he turned down another road enroute to the observatory, yelping and jerking forward when she hit his steering wheel again.

"_WOULD YOU __**STOP**__ THAT?" _

"Then don't act like you've just gone into processor lock dumb-ass!"

"Well then **you** should keep your deranged mental images to yourself Morwenna! I don't even have any idea _**WHY**_ that image would enter your head in the first place!"

"_**Okay**_; Ironhide lands in pool—daughter of pool owner wakes up and takes her tooth out from underneath her pillow."

Sunstreaker made a noise of confusion.

"Why the _pit_ would a femme youngling have an orifice bone hidden under her pillow?"

"Human tradition."

"…..You humans are _weird_."

"No weirder than you are Sunstreaker."

"Hey! I thought we agreed, **SIDESWIPE** is the weird one; I'm the _vain_ one _AND WHAT IS __**IT**__ WITH YOU __**HUMANS**__ AND NOT BEING ABLE TO __**DRIVE**__?_"

Sunstreaker swerved violently away from the truck that was drifting into their lane, nearly missing the turn-off to the observatory, his entire frame jerking to the right as he used his superior grip and engine power to turn and shoot down the road in less than a second. Morwenna groaned and pressed her forehead against the glass of his driver's side door, stomach objecting to the sudden change in direction.

"If you're going to purge could you please do it _**OUTSIDE**_ of my interior? It took me forever to get it clean when Soundrive threw a paint bomb inside and slammed the door—not to mention how long it took me to clean up Lightwave after that!"

Morwenna sniggered at the remembered prank; they were definitely Sunstreakers sparklings alright. What made it even funnier to her was that they were twins as well—she couldn't _wait_ to see the others reactions when they found _**THAT**_ out.

"Anyways; back to our last topic. The daughter of the pool owner goes downstairs and out the door to the pool.

Ironhide climbs out.

As he is climbing out she very _innocently_ asks him;

"_Excuse me; are you the Tooth Fairy?"_"

There was a moment of silence before Sunstreaker's engine spluttered in shock, laughter exploding out of his speakers as he struggled to drive in a straight line.

"I am _**SO**_ using your _'mental image' _as a prank—that would be hilarious!"

She smirked.

"I thought you might like that."

"So what about the others?"

"Ratchet lands in the middle of downtown and takes out a mechanic's repair shop—ironic since he's a medic.

Jazz manages to take out the top half of a baseball stadium and half the field and Optimus is the _ONLY_ one who manages to land away from the active human population—he actually lands in a field just behind the observatory."

Sunstreaker snorted as he turned onto the road that lead to the observatory, poised to ask a question when Morwenna made a noise of surprise and pointed at the Camaro coming in the opposite direction.

"That's Bumblebee!"

Revving his engine in acknowledgement he turned into the driveway after the car, slamming on his brakes as the yellow Camaro spun around so that it was facing him head on. Both doors popped open and two humans shot out of either seat and into the nearby bushes, transformation sequence initiating as soon as they were clear. The yellow bot trained his ion cannon on them as soon as he was fully transformed, doorwings ridged in surprise and wariness as he glared at them meaningfully.

"_Stick 'em up!" _

Morwenna snorted as she stepped out of Sunstreakers alt, raising her hands half-heartedly as Sunstreaker transformed behind her, throwing a cocky grin at the scout as he stood to his full height.

"Hey 'Bee; Ratch' still hasn't fixed it yet huh?"

Bumblebee let out a surprised warble as he transformed his servo back to normal and took a step toward the frontliner, knocking him over in a hug when his grin grew wider.

"**OI**; WATCH THE PAINT!"

Morwenna shook her head and made her way over to the two teenagers as Sunstreaker struggled to get the over-enthusiastic mech off of him, waving as they looked in her direction.

"Hey there!"

Hesitantly Sam started waving back, yelping as Mikaela whapped his hand before turning a glare in her direction.

"Who are you? And how does our robot know your robot?"

Morwenna winced at her words, fixing her with a rueful smile as 'Bee began to click at Sunstreaker rapidly in Cybertronian Code.

"First off—they're not robots. They're Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron—Autobots for short. Your '_robot'_ as you put it is an Autobot scout named Bumblebee; my '_robot'_ is an Autobot frontliner—think Army infantry—named Sunstreaker.

My name is Morwenna Morrigan; pleased to meet you, Samuel J. Witwicky and Mikaela Banes."

She smiled serenely as they stared at her; surprising people like that was fun.

"H-how did you know our names?"

Her smile grew wider.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

There was a sudden, muffled chirp that had Morwenna snapping her attention to Sunstreaker as Bumblebee paused in his clicking to look at him in confusion, said mech looking back at them with an oblivious expression. He winced minutely as more chirps and warbles sounded from his chassis, vents heaving in defeat as those voices started talking and Morwenna's expression grew dark.

"Sunstreaker—get them out. **NOW**."

A mulish look crossed his faceplates as the other three beings stared at her in confusion—what in the name of Primus was she talking about?

"_SUNSTREAKER_!"

The two humans backed up a bit as the two entered a glaring match, Bumblebee shifting his weight so that he could tackle the golden 'bot if he went after the more fragile organic. There was a tense silence as their glares deepened, everyone's heads whipping up to the heavens as there was a sonic boom and four interstellar Protoforms passed over-head.

"**Fine**."

The small scout jerked back in surprise as Sunstreakers chassis plating began to split and shift; he had never heard of Sunstreaker giving up so easily—Sideswipe didn't count—to _**ANYONE**_; much less an _organic_! The golden armor shifted back just enough to reveal his carrying chamber, the yellow scout freezing—optics cycled to their widest setting as he spotted what lay inside.

"Gigs up guys; time to get out."

Warbling sadly at Sunstreakers slightly disappointed tone, three tiny metallic beings climbed into his open servo, hopping off once he had lowered them to the ground and standing in front of Morwenna with downturned optics. She fixed them with a stern expression as they looked at her with a nervously hopeful expression, sighing as they started to keen softly. Kneeling down and picking up the largest of the three she turned her attention back to the mech in front of her, face grim as she looked into his optics.

"You realize how much danger they're in just by _**BEING**_ here, don't you?"

Sunstreaker nodded his helm as his plating finished closing, expression deadly serious as he scooped the other two back into his arms, holding them close to his spark as he spoke.

"Did _**you**_ think that they would believe you without proof?"

Morwenna smiled bitterly, gently shaking her head in answer.

Slowly Bumblebee knelt next to her, staring in wonder at the tiny being in her arms—he had never seen one for himself, especially since he was thought to be the last. Slowly he stretched out a digit towards the sparkling, pausing and looking at the human femme nervously, optics asking for permission to touch the suddenly shy mechling.

"It's alright; he won't hurt you."

Not sure who she was speaking to 'Bee slowly placed his digit on the sparklings helm and rubbed, face-plates stretching into an impression of a smile as the little one relaxed and started rubbing back against the large yellow digit, engine purring contentedly as his optics dimmed to a greyish-blue. Sam smiled from where he stood watching; to him it sounded like the little guy was a giant metallic cat.

"What is _that_?"

Mikaela's eyebrow rose as everyone turned to look at her and she crossed her arms—she _HAD_ asked a question.

"Not _what_; **who**.

This is Vultus and he is a sparkling—a Cybertronian baby in human standards."

"I'm not a baby!"

Morwenna laughed at her sparklings put-out expression, yelping when he hit her softly.

"I'm not! Humans have to wait _three to_ _four __**stellar**__**cycles**_ to talk; I could talk after three _**ORNS**_!"

Sunstreaker smirked, rubbing one of his digits against the silver helm roughly in a sign of affection.

"Well compared to me you are scraplet; and 'Drive and 'Wave are even younger than you."

"Not by that much!"

"Yea; only by two stellar cycles!"

Sam watched as they laughed at the small ro—Cybertronians indignation; even Mikaela was chuckling bemusedly at the oddly cute display. He shook his head; his week had been weird from the moment he had gotten home last night—scratch that; from the moment he had bought Bumblebee—and it had just kept on going down-hill from there. Sighing he straightened his shoulders before stepping up to Morwenna; he felt more comfortable asking questions from her—both because she was human and she could actually explain it in a way that he could understand.

"Morwenna, right?"

"Hm?"

"What do they want with me?"

She turned to face him, green eyes looking at him appreciatively before speaking.

"Archibald's glasses."

"What?"

"Ya know the '_random'_ symbols that he drew when he went crazy?"

"….Yea?"

She shook her head, amusement glinting in her eyes at his increasingly confused expression.

"Not so random; Cybertronian glyphs that had been imprinted on his brain."

"And the iceman?"

She shrugged.

"Frozen Cybertronian Warlord."

Mikaela tensed, ice blue eyes flashing in alarm.

"Warlord?"

Morwenna nodded her head, opening her mouth to speak when heavy ped-falls sounded behind them, a low, rumbling voice sounding in question.

"Sunstreaker?"

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

**: Initiate landing protocols—and for the love of Primus **_**PLEASE**_** land in a non-populated area; we don't need a repeat of Temulis 9.: **

**: He's talking to **_**you**_** Ironhide.: **

**: Ya're involv'd too Ratchet! Or did ya forgit 'bout a cert'n Temul'n Of—: **

**: Shut it before I **_**reformat**__**you**_** into a waste receptacle!: **

**: Now, now younglings; listen to your papa Prime.: **

**:…..You're next Jazz.: **

**: Patience you three; I'm just as sick of being stuck in this form as you—the sooner we land, the better.: **

There was a grunt over the comm. as Ratchet headed towards the planet, the faint impression of a teasing smirk filtering through their bond.

**: Well then; what are we waiting for? Let's go!: **

Optimus increased his speed to catch up with his spark-mate, Jazz and Ironhide not far behind as they penetrated the upper mesosphere, streaking across the alien sky as their speed broke the sound barrier. Optimus winced to himself as his outer plating heated up uncomfortably from the friction of the miniscule matter particles in the air, grunting as he hit the organic ground hard and hot, sliding a good vun before shuddering to a stop. Unfolding from the pod-like alt mode he made for the nearest transport lane, shivering as the cool foreign breeze of the planet brushed against his bare protoform.

Scaling the irregular terrain he stopped at the top of a small incline, sighing in relief as he spotted a terrain vehicle that would be large enough to contain his frame comfortably. Scanning the primary colored semi-truck he transformed, rolling his gears to get a feel for his new form.

**: Prime to Bumblebee;…..come in Bumblebee.: **

Optimus frowned as he went unanswered—it wasn't like the scout to ignore his calls. Sending a location ping down the link he headed towards 'Bee's location, stiffening as he drew close enough to pick up the signal of _TWO_ Autobots and three unknowns—not to mention the three organic life signatures that were interspersed among them.

**: Prime to Jazz.: **

**: S'up Prime?: **

**: Bumblebee is unresponsive to hails over his comm.; scan of the area he is located in reveals an additional Autobot signature along with three signals of unknown origin.: **

Optimus could feel the faint impression of a frown over the comm. link, Jazz's response so—Prowl-like that he just knew that the silver saboteur had shifted into _'serious mode'_.

**: Do you wish for me to **_**'take care' **_**of the situation?: **

**: Negative; acquiring visual now. I will let you know…if…: **

Optimus trailed off as he just stared at the golden mech that stood next to Bumblebee; it couldn't be.

"Sunstreaker?"

Said mech straightened before turning around on wheeled peds, signature smirk plastered across arrogantly handsome features as he looked at his Prime.

"Hey Prime; long time no see."

Optimus missed the greeting in its entirety, attention focused on the tiny beings held in large golden arms. Wide blue optics looked up at him in surprise, uncertainty entering those sky blue orbs as they continued to look at him. The smaller of the two—dark, rich navy blue plating with orange edging—buried his helm into Sunstreakers chassis as his inverted counterpart gently tugged on the golden mechs arm, pointing at him when he gained the 'bots attention.

"Carrier; who's that? And why is he so **big**?"

Optimus was amazed at the honest joy that overtook Sunstreaker, the laughter and affectionate amusement so at odds with the moody, volatile twin he had known for vorns—it was like he was a completely different mech.

"That—little 'Wave—is Optimus Prime. He is the Leader of the Autobots and bearer of the Prime Matrix."

"H….He won't…..He won't hurt us; will he?"

Sunstreaker clicked reassuringly at the smaller sparkling as he stepped closer to his Prime, rubbing back struts soothingly as the little one curled tighter against him.

"No 'Drive; he has sworn to protect every Cybertronian who still has a spark: even the bad guys."

"Really?"

"Well; only if they ask for help _REALLY_ nice."

'Drive giggled at the funny squeak in Sunstreakers voice, the larger of the two sparklings tilting his helm curiously as he studied the Prime.

"Why are you so big?"

Optimus couldn't help but laugh; it was so—refreshing to hear the curious innocence of a sparkling after so long. He had forgotten how soothing and uplifting it could be.

"I'm not all that tall young one; before the war there where 'bots as tall as the humans Empire State Building and as big as an entire city—some of them even had smaller, slimmer 'bots living inside the buildings that made up their frame."

Smiling at the wide eyed wonderment on the mechlings face he turned to locate the boy that Bumblebee had found—only to have his gaze riveted on the silver sparkling held in a human femme's arms.

**: ****PRIME****!: **

Optimus jerked and rubbed one audial fin tenderly; the mech needed to learn how to speak quietly.

**: What is it Ironhide?: **

**: '**_**What is it'**_** he asks; ya'd better be glad tha' Ratchet's here with meh—'tween him 'n' Jazz it's near impossible ta keep 'em from goin' after ya with guns blazin'!: **

_#You had better be alright Orion or so help me—!# _

Optimus cycled his vents as his optics flickered briefly, optical ridge lifting as he noticed the knowing smirk on the human femme's face.

**: I am fine Ratchet; I was just—surprised.: **

**: Oh? And what can s'prise the great Optimus Prime?: **

**: Something that cannot be explained with mere words.: **

There was a brief nanoklick of silence.

**: You enjoy knowing something that we don't; don't you?: **

Optimus let his amusement bleed through the bond in response, adding a vague feeling of urgency before refocusing his attention on the humans who had now taken to standing near his peds. He noticed with a faint sense of dread that that same smirk still adorned the older human femme's face.

"Well; now that Prime's attention seems to be focused on us instead of his comm. maybe he will be able to answer your question _fleshling_."

One of the humans had asked a question? Optimus frowned internally; usually his awareness wasn't so impaired.

"Sunstreaker; _behave_."

The golden mech snorted, nailing the femme with a wry grin as he spoke.

"This is about as '_behaved'_ as I get 'Wen."

The femme shook her head, optics rolling within their cranial sockets as she adjusted the sparkling on her hip.

"Umm; hello? I would _really_ like to know what's going on here! Why do you need Grandpa Archibald's glasses? And you still haven't introduced yourself."

Optics shuttered before Optimus was lowering himself to one knee, sincere apology written into every movement.

"Forgive me; my name is Optimus Prime, Leader of the Autobots."

"So you're 'Bee's and Sunny's—"

The boy jumped as the Lamborghini's engine revved angrily, a nasty sneer on the golden mechs features as one of his wrist blades extended threateningly.

"**NO NICKNAMES!" **

Optimus nodded to himself; _**THERE'S**_ the Sunstreaker that he knew. Watching the humans reactions to his anger—the boy looked ready to urinate himself while the younger femme had every muscle tensed in preparation to flee—Optimus was prepared to step forward when the older femme rolled her optics again, kicking _SUNSTREAKER_ of all mechs straight in the ped, optical ridge lifting as he fixed her with an angry glare. She spent a few seconds engaging him in a staring match before turning her back to him coolly, using one hand to gesture at the Witwicky boy.

"Continue Sam."

"…..Umm;. . . _right_. Anyway; you're their boss right?"

"Yes Samuel J. Witwicky; I am."

"Uhh; Sam's just fine. I'm usually only called by my full name when I'm in trouble."

"Very well; Sam."

"Why do you want the glasses? I mean; Morwenna said something about a Warlord…..."

Optimus raised an optical ridge as he looked down at the older fe—Morwenna, exasperation overtaking him when she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Seemed like the easiest way to explain who Megatron was."

"I assum' ya told her 'bout the war Sunstreak'r?"

Those gathered turned to look at the 'bot that had just spoken, Ironhide blatantly ignoring the humans inquisitive stares as he walked up to his Prime. Of course, he also ignored how Ratchet and Jazz just seemed to stop and stare at Sunstreaker and the femme that had just spoken—so they were wrong when they thought that the golden pain-in-the-aft was dead, so what?

"Carrier?"

"Yes Vultus?"

"Why does he look so grumpy?"

There was a klik of silence as Ironhide froze before turning towards the source of the voice very slowly, optics cycling to their widest setting before they went dim and he fell face first into the dirt.

"Do it again, do it again!"

"Shoulda brought a can of paint; digit-painting on him woulda been fun!"

Ratchet gave a long, low groan at the sparklings words, attention snapping to Sunstreaker as he sniggered.

"Hey Doc-bot; _**MY**_ mechlin' twins. Split-sparked of course."

The medics optics widened as Jazz laughed helplessly behind him; their CMO never seemed to catch a break when it came to twins.

"Dear Primus there are tw—**THREE!** Three of these doppelganger pit-spawns running around!"

"_*sknt* _I guess that Med. Bay is gonna get busy from now on, huh Ratchet?"

"Shut it Jazz."

Morwenna just shook her head as she adjusted a giggling sparkling in her arms; while it was relieving to know that the kids would be getting to know them as the Cybertronians they were, time was _NOT_ on their side.

"I think that we should get back on subject here; after all, Sector Seven draws closer to our position with each passing minute."

_THAT_ got Sunstreaker's and Bumblebee's attention, the two yellow-toned 'bots sharing a significant glance before getting the attention of the rest of the team, Sunstreaker kicking Ironhide in the side-vents to wake him up.

"HEY!"

Sunstreaker sniggered as Ironhide glared at him before rolling to his peds, Optimus turning his attention back to Sam as everyone settled down.

"I apologize for our unprofessionalism; none of us has seen a sparkling in quite some time."

"How long is that?"

Ironhide snorted.

"Long'r then yahr race has been **alive**, hum'n."

Mikaela seemed stunned at that bit of news; just how old **are** these guys?

"How did you guys find me anyways?"

"Ebay."

Sam couldn't help the grin that spread across face at the one word answer; talk about dry humor. His attention was drawn to the smaller silver one as he did a couple of break dance moves before flipping onto a car—he didn't know that metal could be so flexible.

"What's crackin' lil' bitches?"

"You are?"

"Names Jazz; First Lieutenant of the Autobot Army."

The whine of charging cannons drew Sam's attention to the taller black 'bot, eyes growing wide as he noticed the weapons aimed right at him.

"Ya feelin' _lucky_ **punk**?"

Optimus shuttered his optics; Ironhide was an excellent weapons specialist and friend, but he tended to get a little—overenthusiastic with the tools of his trade. This was especially true when he had the chance to show off the two personally specialized ion cannons integrated onto each arm. Speaking of which; Optimus moved to discourage Ironhide before he decided to do a '_demonstration'_—the last one took out half of a densely populated city.

"Easy Ironhide."

"Just kiddin'! I just want'd ta show him mah cannons."

Sam struggled to keep it just to a grin—if he didn't know any better, he'd almost say that the black 'bot was _pouting_.

"What's his job?"

"Ironhide is my Weapons Specialist; the Autobot standing next to me is our Medical Officer. Designation Ratchet."

Morwenna could hardly contain her laughter as the yellowish 'bot sniffed the air curiously, pointing at him when Sunstreaker looked at her in confusion.

"Hmm; the boys' pheromone levels suggest that he wants to **mate** with the female."

Morwenna burst out into laughter as a large grin worked its way onto the golden mechs face, Optimus resisting the urge to smack his mate upside the helm.

_#Why?# _

_#What? Their backwards way of viewing physical pleasure is a travesty; one that I hope to correct in time.#_

_#...Please don't.# _

"Hey Ironhide."

Optimus and Ratchet turned their attention to Morwenna as she spoke, both of them instantly getting the processor image of a certain red twin with the same slag eating grin on his face.

This couldn't end well.

Said mech looked down at the human that had spoken, absently noting that she held the sparkling that made him crash earlier.

"Yah hum'n?"

She made a face at his question, smiling as the sparkling in her arms giggled at her.

"First off; the names Morwenna. Secondly; how hard did it hit your '_mechliness'_ when you looked up what that little girl by the pool called you and you found out what it was?"

Ironhide stiffened at her question, optical ridges drawing together as the black 'bot stood to his full height.

"Ah don't know what ya mean."

"Sure ya don't; _Tooth Fairy_."

Morwenna yelped as Ironhide dove after her, only weeks of training—courtesy of sparklings and dodging a very pissed of Hot Rod—saving her from being scooped up in powerful black servos as she ducked, running underneath his stabilizing peds in a bid for freedom. Optimus started to go after them—what would happen if he hurt the human? Or—Primus forbid—the sparkling?

A slim yellow servo on the hinge of his arm stayed him, waves of calming reassurance pulsing over their bond.

_#If he was truly serious about harming the human she would be __**dead**__ by now. Ask that yellow pain in the aft what's going on; judging from his grin he __**certainly**__ knows.#_

"Sunstreaker?"

"Yea Prime?"

"Why is Ironhide chasing the human?"

Sunstreaker grinned, the golden mech data bursting Optimus a packet on—a Tooth Fairy?

"He is _**NEVER**_ going to live this down; I'll make sure of it!"

Confused Optimus turned his attention back to the duo, watching as the femme lifted the silver sparkling in front of her like a shield.

"Adorable Sparkling Attack!"

The other 'bots laughed as Ironhide stopped dead in his tracks, engine letting off an annoyed growl before he backed off.

"_**Nev'r**_ call meh _that_ _again_ femme."

"Oh—_she_ might not 'Hide, but **I will~!**"

The black mech slowly turned to face the grinning frontliner, optics narrowing as that insufferable grin just grew wider.

"Don't yah _**dare**_."

"Make me _fairy_."

Ironhide lunged at the laughing Autobot, once again brought up short as Sunstreaker held one of his sparklings in each servo.

"Cute Attack of Doom!"

Sam couldn't take it anymore and started laughing uncontrollably, weakly leaning on Bumblebee's ped as the yellow scout looked down at him, amusement shining in his optics. It was surprising to see just _**how**_ much these alien robots acted like everyday humans; it helped them seem more—relatable to him, for lack of a better word. Taking a few calming breaths Sam reminded himself of **WHY** he was surrounded by aliens from another planet in the first place, coughing slightly to gain the tallest Autobots—Optimus, right?—attention.

"Ummm; Optimus?"

"Yes Sam?"

"How did your war start? And how does that have anything to do with me? I mean; you must want my grandfather's glasses for a reason…..right?"

In response Optimus pressed two digits to the base of an audial fin, optics flashing as he transformed the area into the dismal landscape of a war-torn Cybertron, narrating as battles raged around them.

"Our planet was once a powerful empire; peaceful and just.

Until we were betrayed by Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons.

All who defied them were destroyed.

Our war finally consumed the planet, and the Allspark was lost to the stars.

Megatron followed it to Earth; where Captain Witwicky found him."

Sam's eyes lit in recognition, a tiny smile crossing his face.

"My grandfather."

Morwenna silently moved so that she was standing next to Mikaela as Optimus continued talking, smiling as the dark-haired girl turned her attention to her.

"Hey Mikaela; do you have a phone?"

Ice-blue eyes narrowed in suspicion, vision zoning in on the tell-tale bulge in her back pocket.

"Don't you have one of your own?"

Morwenna chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

"I do; but the batteries dead. I only need to call a friend to let him know that Vultus, Flashwave and Soundrive are with Sunstreaker and me, I swear!"

"…..Yea; whatever."

Digging into her oversized handbag Mikaela handed her the phone, Morwenna studiously ignoring the suspicious glare that Sunstreaker leveled her way.

"…accidentally activated his navigation system.

The coordinates to the Cube's location on Earth were imprinted on his glasses."

'_Well; here goes nothing.' _

Bringing the phone up to her face she whispered into the mouth piece, careful to put Vultus down and out of danger should things not go the way she had planned.

"I don't want to fight; only talk.

I know that the **logical** thing to do in this situation would be to expose you and hand you over to Optimus and the others to do as they see fit. But _**I**_ have never been the most logical of beings.

I will start by saying that I can never even _BEGIN_ to understand what made you, your brothers and your host choose to become Decepticons; I can only guess, and rather poorly at that. _**BUT**_; unlike the others I can understand the drive—the unrelenting **NEED** to deliver retribution to those who wronged you;….. the deeply buried shame and self-loathing for not being _strong_ enough to **stop** them in the first place. What I ask of you is not a change of your personal views, beliefs or convictions. I'm not even going to waste time trying to convince you to become neutral, change sides, or stop fighting.

What I _AM_ asking for is one, simple promise; that you will not harm **ANY** sparkling or adopted creator under my care."

Morwenna chuckled wryly.

"I don't care if most of your warriors could crush me in an astrosecond; hurt them, and I _WILL_ find you and offline you.

Now; what is your answer?"

"Morwenna; what are you doing?"

Said femme snapped her head up to meet the medic's optics, noticing that everyone else had paused to stare at her in various levels of concern, though Jazz had a knowing grin stretching his lippates.

'_Of __**course**__ the saboteur knows the moment someone opens their mouth; __pit__, he probably knew that Frenzy was here from the moment Mikaela stepped out of 'Bee's alt!' _

The '_phone'_ buzzed in her hand and Morwenna rolled her eyes, making sure to send each of the Autobots a pointed look as she opened the message.

**^What the frag am I supposed to do ****NOW**** fleshie? Their fragging TIC knows I'm here!^ **

She shrugged.

"Well; as I see it you have two options.

One—you could say you promise and then _'get the hell out of Dodge'_ while Ironhide takes pot-shots at you; not to mention having to outmaneuver Sunstreaker and the others as you tried to escape.

Two—you promise _and_ agree to stop fighting for a set amount of time and _I_ will keep you safe until you can rejoin your teammates, which comes with the _added_ benefit of gaining whatever fore-knowledge I posses with minimal effort.

Your choice; what will it be?"

Ratchet nudged Optimus over their bond as he noticed Jazz's grin, optics narrowing as they caught sight of each other and he just grinned wider.

_#What is it Ratchet?# _

_#Jazz knows something.# _

There was a faint hint of wry amusement over the bond.

_#When doesn't he? _

_I'm sure that he knows what he's doing; after all, he is my Third in Command for a reason.# _

Ratchet snorted as he kept his glare leveled on the saboteur, helm whipping down to stare at the silver symbiote as he transformed in Morwenna's hand. Instantly every Autobot had a weapon drawn, leveling them at the small Decepticon with unerring accuracy.

"T-t-two! Op-ption two f-f-rag it!"

Morwenna immediately tucked the silver bot close to her chest and curled in as much as possible, shielding the Decepticon with her body even as she glared at the gathered 'bots. The tension rising between them was thick enough to cut with a knife as everyone continued to stare at the femme, Optimus' staying presence the only thing that kept the situation from escalating. Lowering his rifle Optimus knelt in front of the defensive femme, stilling as she shrank back from him, lips curling into a snarl as she stared straight into his optics.

"Let me make one thing clear Prime; I don't care if they're the children of Unicron _himself_.

Any Decepticon that comes to me for aid or sanctuary I will protect to the _utmost_ of my ability."

Ratchet shorted derisively.

"You couldn't _possibly_ understand what they have done to our _people_; our **planet**. It is the same thing that will befall your own if you insist on protecting these—these **MONSTERS**."

Morwenna straightened to stare at Ratchet dead on, eyes burning with an inner fire that took him back with its intensity.

"I **will not** attempt to defend their actions; _nor_ will I attempt to trivialize the horrors you have seen—both on the field and in your med bay.

But understand this;

For every Decepticon who joined because they were just in it for a fight or a chance to spill blood, there were **three** that joined because an oppressive Neutral or _AUTOBOT_ drove them to make the most desperate of choices."

"How would _**you**_—"

"What the hell are you _doing_? Don't you know that that _**thing**_ and its freaky cop friend tried to kill us?"

**There** was the freak out Morwenna was looking for; the sudden appearance of the symbiote must have made them freeze momentarily.

"And?"

Sam stared at her incredulously while Mikaela advanced—angry that she had been carrying her attacker around in her purse like some kind of demonic toy poodle.

"And _what_?"

Morwenna shrugged, turning to pick up Vultus again as he tugged lightly on her arm, careful to keep the majority of her attention on the small 'Con. Just because she was giving him a chance didn't mean that she had to trust him—yet.

"You're alive aren't you?

Tell me; if all Deceptions are as bad as you think they are, then why aren't you dead?"

"Well; ….because they needed information. About the glasses; he did ask about my ebay page you know."

"Really?

Let me ask you something; in all of the movies you've watched—in all of the books you've _read_—when has the bad guy _EVER_ let the holder of the information they wanted to know go free **WITHOUT** harm once they had gotten the information; or even if they hadn't? After all; you never told Barricade anything—you just ran."

"Wait; he jus' let the hum'n _GO_?"

Morwenna turned her grin on Ironhide, eyebrow rising at his completely dumbfounded expression.

"Indeed."

"That can't be right; fragging' 'Con is nearly fast as **Blurr** wh'n he wants tah be—he should've been able tah snatch Sam righ' outta the aihr."

Morwenna smiled in satisfaction.

"And yet Sam was able to escape over the hood of a car from a mech whose reflexes are the second fastest on Cybertron; tell me, what does _THAT_ tell you about his intentions?

I know more about your war than any other human in this universe—not nearly enough to give you a detailed timeline, but enough to know that what **you** were told was the reason for the uprisings, assassinations, bombings—they were all **FAR** from the truth."

Optimus' optics narrowed in thought as he stared at Morwenna; this organic femme had far more to her than met the eye.

Sunstreaker treated her with the same level of easy camaraderie as Sideswipe; something nearly unheard of when in reference to the volatile frontliner and the sparklings seemed to trust her with their sparks—reaffirmed by the fact that the silver one had felt comfortable enough to call her '_carrier'_. Then there was the fact that she had just convinced **Frenzy** of all 'Cons to _willingly_ enter a ceasefire: as a symbiote of the Decepticon Communications Officer/Intelligence Specialist—who was reportedly _completely_ loyal to Megatron—he was the **last** mech that Optimus expected to enter into any sort of agreement with the enemy, even out of self-preservation.

There were other points about her that didn't sit well with the Prime; she knew far too much to be just a human gifted with having people trust her so easily.

Just _who_ was she?

Morwenna dug out her cell phone and looked at the time, sharing a significant glance with Sunstreaker before turning towards the others.

"We should go; if Sector Seven gets to the glasses before we do they'll be able to crack the code and increase the security around the location of the Allspark…..and Megatron."

**%WHAT?% **

The gathered humans had to cover their ears at Ratchets static-like screech, the other Autobots joining in the din of static, clicks, chirps and whistles of their native tongue as they tried to voice their opinions, Optimus standing to his full height as his attempts at placation went unheard.

**%CALM DOWN! This is as much of a surprise to me as it is to all of you but we **_**must**_** not allow ourselves to be ruled by our emotions.% **

**%But Prime—!% **

**%But nothing Ironhide; we give her a chance to explain herself before we jump to any conclusions.% **

"Woah."

Optimus looked down to find all three humans staring up at them in awe, though Morwenna had a thoughtful look on her face.

"It _is_ fascinating to hear, isn't it?"

Sam and Mikaela nodded their heads absently before Sam turned towards 'Bee, bows furrowed in concentration.

"Is that how you guys talk all the time? Not counting the times you have to talk to us that is."

Bumblebee made a noise of affirmation as he looked down at the boy, glad that he seemed to be adjusting to the unexpected situation very well—for a human.

"Morwenna."

Morwenna looked up at Optimus, tightening her hold on Vultus as she felt his minute tremors. She knew that they didn't trust her, but she would do everything in her power to convince them otherwise; she wasn't losing her sparkling over this.

"You would like me to explain how I know this information.

I'm afraid that a full explanation would take an amount of time that we don't currently have; the short version is that I am from another dimension—one in which you and your race are nothing more than the creation of an overactive human imagination and the events that are playing out right at this _very_ _moment_ are the plot to a very popular movie based on your universe. You can choose to believe me or not, but the fact of the matter is that there is a human organization that knows how to _incapacitate_ and **kill** the average Cybetronian and Decepticon forces draw nearer to the Allspark and their master with each _astrosecond_ we waste testing the validity of my words.

I know not many species—if any—that only live one of your vorns gets to say this, but I **KNOW** more about the situation than what you do at this point. At least trust me until this is all over; after that you can shun me, doubt me, hate me—whatever you like, I don't care.

Just—don't let what could be the only chance to end this once and for all slip away because my explanation seems…._illogical_."

Morwenna stared unwaveringly into electric blue orbs as they examined her critically, following the Primes movements as he rolled his shoulder struts and turned to the gathered Autobots, holding up a servo to forestall anyone's protests.

"What Morwenna says is true; we _cannot_ let our doubt at her words put the Allspark in greater risk of falling into enemy hands. We will trust her for now—though we will require a _**full**_ explanation once this is all over."

"Of course."

Optimus nodded briskly, turning his attention to Bumblebee and Sam as everyone prepared to leave, gesturing to the road ahead of them in invitation.

"I feel that it's only appropriate that you lead Sam; after all, it's **your** life that we've disrupted by coming to your world."

Sam nodded, eagerly climbing into the driver's seat of 'Bee's alt, smiling sheepishly as Mikaela glared at him before climbing in on the other side.

"Autobots; transform and roll out!"

Morwenna turned to Sunstreaker as he transformed, careful to place the small 'Con on the dash of the frontliners alt mode as the three sparklings piled into the back seat.

"_**I**__ am Opt—" _

There was a loud slap as Morwenna hit her forehead with the palm of her hand, groaning as Sunstreaker sniggered while Frenzy looked at her like she had grown a second head. Flipping her phone open she hit the receiving button, grumbling to herself as she brought it up to her ear.

"I have _**GOT**_ to change my ringtone. They probably think I'm some sort of _stalker freak_ or something."

There was a brief stretch of silence followed by a cough of confusion form the other end of the line; Morwenna froze as the unknown person began to speak.

"_Well then;….how's the Stalker Freak business going for you 'Wen?" _

That _voice_; she hadn't heard or seen from the owner of that voice since the night of the accident. A grin slowly stole its way across her face, body relaxing into the seat behind her before replying.

"It depends; will I get to use my talents on the resident Snake Lord?"

There was an explosion of laughter from the other end of the as Morwenna's grin grew even wider, eyebrow raising at Frenzies increasing agitation; she was allowed to be _quite_ odd at the moment considering who it was, thank you very much.

"_Why not; I can practice a couple of hex's on you while I'm at it." _

"Good. Now; I have _one_ question for you."

"_What?" _

"Where the **HELL** have you _BEEN_ Tom?"

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Fea: I don't like how this one ended at all. It kinda transformed into an eight-headed monster with multiple tentacles and proceeded to strangle the life out of me half-way through before I had Sunstreaker run it through with his blade.

Oh well; as long as ya'll like it.

Review my mechlings!

Next Time: Tom and Mirage explain what's happened to them since we've seen them last, Morwenna goes with Sam and Mikaela on a Sector Seven joy ride, and Hot Rod and the Flynnin's make their way towards Mission City with even more sparklings and 'Cons being revealed (and converted). All this and more on the next installment of Incarnation of Cybertron!

'Till all are one!


	8. Catching up with Tom

Fea: I'm BAAA~AACK! Tremble in fear mere mortals! Mwhahahahahaha~!

Seriously though I want to thank all of my loyal readers who have been patiently waiting for the next few chapters of this story. Now that I'm back from deployment and work has calmed down a bit I can actually post my chapters again! YAY!

In case anyone has forgotten I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

Now; people to thank:

xXGuardian HeartXx: Wait no longer! It is HERE!

Kyubbi lover 98: Glad u love it.

Dragoon Z: um; it's not soon—but I updated it! See?

WarriorKat 21: Yes I'm alive; when you go on deployment you get sucked into a wormhole that freezes time for 6 months—makes you very confused.

FunKiller: Thank you! Here's the next chapter.

Cool: I'm adding, I'm adding!

XxShadowFangxX: Thanks for saying so! Here's some more cooku cuteness for ya.

Nyxtolouloudo: Thank you; I couldn't keep myself from grinning as I was typing up that entire scene. Yes there will be (and no it won't be with the twins, though she will have a close relationship with them). Guess you'll just have to read to find out!

SakuraPheonix13: And now I've updated again.

Alalaya2: I hope you like this one to.

Spirit01: Like I said; mind of its own. Glad you liked it though.

Angel897: Thanks. You'll see which 'Cons I decide to convert—and which ones won't. Guess you'll hafta read to find out huh?

Phew! Now; onto the story!

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"_Where the __**HELL**__ have you __BEEN__ Tom?" _

Tom rubbed the back of his neck in an unconscious reaction to his nervousness, smacking the dashboard in front of him as the aristocratic mech snorted derisively.

"This…. 'Wen friend of yours can't actually **see** your gesture you know."

"_Thank you_ for pointing out the obvious Mr. Snooty-Pants!"

Mirage snorted with surprisingly mild irritation as he sped down the highway; it was a _strange_ relationship that had developed between him and the human. It was _almost_ like the rapport he had built up with Sunstreaker over the vorns—without the underlying animosity to go with it of course. Focusing on the replying signal from the other communications device Mirage traced it back to its origin, frowning as he realized that it was nowhere _near_ their location. How the slag where they supposed to help when they were so far apart?

**%I **_**swear**_** this fleshling is going to be the death of me.% **

**:**_**Death!?**_** I thought you said that the organic wouldn't—!:**

Mirage vented in exasperation as he cut the panicked 'bot off; he was convinced that the small medic was a sparkling in a mechs body.

**:He **_**WON'T**_**Fixit; I simply meant that he irritates me beyond the point of rationality sometimes.: **

**:Oh;…..**_**So~**_**; he won't actually kill you right? Not like—like those others?: **

**:No Fixit; he is ****nothing**** like those humans.: **

**:Good.: **

Mirage sighed as the red and white Audi TT pulled up next to him, pulsing his field to calm the residual worry he could feel in the other—letting out an undignified yelp a second later as Tom hit him across the steering wheel.

"What was **that**?"

"_What was what?" _

"Not you 'Wen; the snooty Towers Mech that I'm currently hitching a ride with. He said something in Cybertronian and it didn't sound very nice."

There was a groan on the other end of the line before a deep metallic voice spoke, Morwenna's laughter filtering through a moment later.

"_Sunstreaker says to offline the noble while ya can Tom; you'll get less processor aches that way." _

Tom groaned well naturedly as he leaned back into the seat, yelping as Mirage sent a small electric shock through the bottom of it.

"It's too late for that; I must've gone through five bottles of Advil since Tucson **alone**. I found out why this sharp-shooting pain in the ass didn't show up in the movies by the way."

"_Oh; and what would that be?" _

"You know those sector people with the black SUV's and the—?"

"_Sector Seven? What about them?"_

"They tried to shoot some kind of cryo-gun thingy at him back in Tennessee; I have the feeling that if I hadn't practically _landed_ on him in that garage back in Tampa he would've been toast back there too."

"…_.What happened to you Tom?"_

Tom shifted nervously in the sudden silence, clearing his throat loudly before bringing the phone back up to his ear.

"Well; after Tennessee….."

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"I am **NEVER** listening to your directions again human!"

"How was **I** supposed to know that this highway would take us to Mexico?! I never lived down here!"

"There were signs!"

"Then why didn't **you** read them?!"

Mirage swore and dodged as the Border Patrol tried to take out his tires **again**, racing across the desert highway with seven fast pursuit vehicles rocketing off after him. Fraggin' human; he wouldn't know how to navigate even if it bit him in the aft. Dodging another round of fire he tore onto a dirt road, speakers hissing static as the rough terrain painfully scrapped the underside of his carriage.

"Are you _crazy_?! Your alt mode wasn't built for this kind of off-roading!"

"Be quiet; it was a choice between this or spending Primus knows _HOW_ long trying to get you out of whatever judicial system you have. I chose the one that would take the least amount of time—though it comes with the unfortunate side-effect of processor aches."

"**HEY**!"

Mirage chuckled as he continued along the dirt road, engine revving in agitation as they came to the other end only to find it blocked off by those **same** black SUV's that had been chasing them since their failed attempt at capture in _Tennessee_.

'_Why can't they ever leave me __ALONE__?! Primus; it's like the only way to escape them is to…..' _

"Thomas?"

"Yea?"

"Prepare to be amazed."

Tom rolled his eyes; not only did the noble insist on calling him Thomas—he had given up correcting him after the _seventy-fifth _time—he also thought that everything he did was the best thing out there—which to be fair a lot of it was, but the red mech didn't need his ego inflated any more than it was already.

"By the power of the Director of Sector Seven, I order you to **stop**!"

Tom rolled his eyes.

'_Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight; like anyone's gonna listen to __**THAT**__.'_

Tom scoffed under his breath at bullhorn-man's pompous attitude, every muscle in his body freezing as everything began to distort and twist around them, Mirages frame melting away to leave an unobstructed view of the sector members as they scrambled to reacquire a visual on the red sports car. A low chuckle seemed to emanate out of nowhere as they sped away from the roadblock, Tom stubbornly keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead as vertigo began to take over.

It wasn't until they hit the outskirts of Yuma that Mirage rematerialized, hurriedly pulling over so that Tom could stumble to the side of the road where he swiftly emptied his stomach. Groaning the human made his way back to the red sports car, leaning his forehead against the window as Mirage pulled back onto the road.

"Do you require anything Thomas?"

He smiled weakly as he pulled out his phone, cursing as he saw that there was no signal.

"Not here; maybe if you were an old clunker and it didn't look like I dressed in designer clothing maybe. Morwenna lived in Tucson for five years and Yuma is **not** the place you want to stop for gas if you don't live here—or so she told me."

Mirage hummed in agreement; the lower levels of Kaon had been the same way before the war—it wasn't somewhere you went as an outsider.

"Where do you suggest we head next?"

Tom raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you weren't going to listen to my directions anymore _Mirage_."

The noble couldn't help but snort as he pulled out onto the highway, swiftly accelerating to put as much distance between them and the border as possible.

If he never went back there it would be too soon.

"It's not like I have any idea of where to _go_ on this planet; while you may not know as much as your friend, you at _least_ have an idea of what populace we need to head for in order to meet up with Prime and the others."

"Mission City."

"Pardon?"

"We need to go to Mission City; that's where the big battle takes place. That part I **DO** remember because—"

Mirage's attention heightened as Tom cut himself off, a dark feeling of dread closing around his spark as the human made no move to speak again.

"Because _what_ Thomas?"

"…..Because Jazz dies."

Miles of desert landscape passed around them as Mirage tried to process the news; Jazz had survived _anything _and_ everything_ that this war had to throw at him—and yet he dies in the most remote reaches of the universe on organic soil? It didn't make sense.

Tom—for once—wisely kept quiet; from what 'Wen had told him, a _lot_ of these guys had become good friends with each other as their war had raged on and their race slowly died—to lose any of them must be painful.

It was sunset when they pulled into downtown Phoenix, the lights of the city offset by the brilliant pink and orange glow of the setting sun. Pulling into the parking lot of a hotel Mirage turned off his engine, both of them sitting in silence as their thoughts raced around in their heads. Eventually Tom stretched his hand forward, stroking the steering wheel briefly in a gesture of comfort before opening the door, pausing as Mirage spoke for the first time since receiving the news.

"Jazz does not…..perish until the battle, correct?"

"Yes."

"So we still have time to save him, right?"

"Right; and I'll ask 'Wen what could be done to stop that once she actually gets into a place with _friggin' service!_"

"….You worry about her, don't you?"

Tom smiled to himself; how could he not worry about her? He knew better than anyone that the brave, outgoing front that she showed to everyone else wasn't who she really was, and he didn't want to see her hurt.

"Of course I do; 'Wen worries about everyone accept herself—sometimes it gets to the point where she'll go without sleep and food just to make sure that everyone else is taken care of—both emotionally and physically. Hopefully she got stuck with someone who's as stubborn as she is so that she doesn't **waist away**…..

Welp; see ya in the mornin'."

Mirage reflected on what Tom had said as the human walked away; the dynamic between the two reminded him of Prime and Ironhide—that is, if the black mech had the directional capabilities of a _**rock**_—though it wasn't until Ratchet and Prime finally got over their own sort-comings that the emotional side of Prime's neglect was taken care of. That line of deliberation made the last thought Mirage had before slipping into recharge was a troubling one;

If this '_Wen_ reminded him of Prime, who was there to take care of _HER_ emotional need?

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"….I am going to _shoot _you."

Tom chuckled uneasily at Mirage's deadpan tone, nervously rubbing the back of his head as he stood next to the tree that the red mech had crashed into.

"Now, I am going to ask you one more time; exactly **WHY** are we in Washington?"

"Ummm; because you don't have a working navigations system and I fell asleep?"

Mirage sighed; this was the absolute **LAST** time he relied on this human for directions. He couldn't even think of a suitable comparison among his fellow Cybertronians to compare the human **to**; not even _Skywarp_ counted—at least the jet could blame the disorientation of warping on his temporary misdirection.

"Look; you humans have maps that show the infrastructure of your highways, correct?"

Tom tilted his head curiously, abruptly reminding the red mech of a clueless turbo-puppy; which, come to think of it, he probably was.

"Uhhh; you mean road maps? Yea; Why?"

"It would be better if we could find the major routes we take to get to this _'Mission City' _so that you could inform me of which ones to take. This way if you fall asleep again **I** will have an idea of where to go so that we don't end up on the other end of the continent—**again**!"

"That _could_ work….uh; Mirage?"

Said mech huffed in exasperation, making his EMP field as pleasantly annoyed as possible as he responded.

"_Yes_ Thomas?"

"You _might_ wanna get back onto the road before they tow your aft to impound."

Mirage's engine stalled for half-a-second before he threw himself into reverse; that was the **last** thing he wanted to happen. From what Thomas had described—after embarrassingly admitting that the knowledge was gained through personal experience—getting those sparkless shells that they called '_cars'_ out of impound was even _HARDER_ than getting a person out of jail.

"Ya know; there's something that's been bugging me."

Mirage just revved his engine so show that he had heard as he situated himself back onto the road, sensors focusing on the human as he followed him back up the small incline.

"How'd you crash into the tree into the first place?"

The red mech vented as Thomas slid back into his driver's seat, cringing as the damp soil that clung to his shoes was ground into the upholstery of his flooring and dew brushed against his interior.

"The organic liquid that you insistently call '_rain'_ and the black combination of materials that make up your roadway's do _NOT_ mix well—especially if you go over a certain speed and there is a layer of said liquid spread out everywhere."

Tom chuckled.

"I think that's what we call '_hydroplaning'_—scary as shit the first couple of times ya do it."

There was a kilk of silence.

"Why do I get the feeling I won't be letting you taking control of my steering _any time_ in the near future?"

Tom laughed as he directed Mirage to the nearest gas station—they always have _some_ kind of map in stock—as rain started to softly drizzle around them once more. Dashing inside Tom shook himself off to get rid of most of the water that clung to him, smiling sheepishly as he noticed everyone in the station staring at him in surprise. Clearing his throat he made his way to the back of the station, picking up a bottle of Coke and some candy bars before returning to the maps, thumbing through them thoughtfully before pulling out one that looked like it would contain what he needed.

'_If it's not the right one I'll come back and buy another; I suck at reading maps.' _

Humming absently he made his way to the counter, head snapping up as the sound of screeching tires met his ears.

"_Shit_!"

Keeping his eyes open for any black SUV's Tom dashed to the disguised Cybertronian, pausing halfway to stare incredulously at the small red and white Audi that shot past him—cursing as he made a desperate dash for the red Alpha Romeo when two of the SUV's that had been chasing the car pulled into the station. Diving into the driver's seat Tom struggled to get himself situated as Mirage shot out onto the road, insides clenching when he noticed that they had caught up to and were practically _tailgating_ the two SUV's chasing the car.

Then it hit him on just **WHAT** that car might actually be.

"Pull ahead of that car!"

"_WHAT?!" _

"Do it and find a way to get him to follow us; I have an idea!"

Mirage groaned; while Thomas' plans _**HAD**_ gotten them out of many a sticky situation, they were usually so _'nerve wracking'_ that the noble rather wished that the humans in those inelegant behemoths would suddenly and inexplicably loose interest. Even though realistically he knew that the chances of _**THAT**_ happening were about as likely as Megatron suddenly surrendering and handing out energon goodies.

With a forceful ex-vent Mirage shot ahead of the pursuing humans, pulling up alongside the smaller sports car before doing the one thing that would _GUARANTEE_ the red and white's cooperation—he flared his EMP field directly into the mechs, pulsing waves of _speed, safety_ and _follow_ before taking the turn-off indicated to him. The Audi paused for a split-second before following—long enough for one of the SUV's to swerve violently back onto the highway, just avoiding slamming head-first into the guard rail that divided it from the turn off, the other nearly on the poor mechs bumper as he followed a speeding Mirage down a confusing maze of side-streets.

"What now oh intelligent one?"

Tom slapped the steering wheel in front of him in response to the wise remark, sniggering at Mirage's indignant yell before answering.

"Loop back around to that bridge we passed earlier; ya know—the one out of commission?"

"And how would **THAT** help us? I thought that the entire reason your government cordoned it off was because it had become too treacherous for—."

"Just **trust** me alright?"

"…..Would I be here if I didn't?"

Whatever Tom would have said in response was lost was Mirage's speakers surged to life in a burst of static, the rapid clicks and whistles of Cybertronian confusing the human briefly—he had never actually heard it spoken before.

**:Who are you? Why won't the mech's that are chasing me respond to my hails and how can they move if they have no spark energy? Are they drones?: **

Mirage was temporarily stunned by the barrage of questions, mentally shaking his helm before he replied in wry amusement.

**:You ****do**** know that usually the polite thing to do is to introduce yourself ****first**** before asking the designation of another—BUT, for the sake of brevity I shall reply. **

**I am Mirage—Autobot soldier and one of the top marksmen under Optimus Primes command. Those '**_**mechs'**_** aren't truly mechs at all; they are sparkless shells that the dominate species of this planet have engineered as a personal and public means of fast transport. **

**Now; who are you?: **

**:Oh; I'm Fixit—Autobot medic. I was—**_**separated**_** from my gestalt when we had a run in with Mixmaster and it was only through sheer luck that I managed to pick up on the energy signatures of several Cybertronians on the surface of this planet.: **

"TURN LEFT NOW!"

The nobles' tires screeched across the pavement as he threw himself into the turn, a flash of white and black in his rear-view letting them know that both of their followers were still in pursuit.

"Now; I want both you and your friend behind us to go as fast as possible and head _straight_ towards the edge."

Mirage stiffened; this didn't sound good.

"…Dare I ask _why_?"

"Simple; you guys are gonna fly off the edge at full speed, transform half-way through, latch onto the other edge of the bridge, haul yourselves up, transform back into alt mode and then drive away."

Tom smiled to himself; it was perfect.

"Thomas; before we commit to this plan, I do have _one_ question."

"What?"

"_HAVE YOU __**COMPLETELY**__ LOST YOUR PROCESSORS!?" _

Tom frowned; personally he thought it was a fairly brilliant stroke of genius, thank you very much.

"Look—if we make it across the gap there is **no way** they'll be able to follow us across. Add in the fact that they don't have any air support and we get a serious time boost in disappearing again for a while."

"Right; and what happens to _you_ in this brilliant plan of yours?"

He shrugged.

"I figure that you would be holding me in one of your servos and would set me down on the other side before hauling yourself up."

Mirage drove on in stunned silence as he struggled to process the remark—if he hadn't thought that the human in his driver seat was insane before, he _sure as the __**pit**_ was now. Venting he contacted the medic, privately questioning the state of his _own_ sanity as he was pinged in reply.

**:Fixit: **

**:Yes Mirage?: **

**:…Follow me and do EXACTALLY as I do; do you understand?: **

**:Perfectly: **

'_I cannot __**believe**__ that I am about to do this.' _

**:Good; now ****ACCELERATE****!: **

The whining of two powerful sports engines met Tom's ears as the two mechs shot forward, the lone SUV straining to catch up to the far more nimble vehicles as they rapidly approached the edge. With one last pulse of _reassurance_ to the smaller mech Mirage flung himself out into space, spark fluxing wildly in its casing as he was suspended in air for a sliver of an astrosecond; then he started to fall.

Quickly the noble transformed and caught Tom in his servo, grunting as he latched onto the opposite edge of the decrepit bridge with one arm, the force of his landing jerking sharply on his shoulder strut. A dull clank and echoing grunt had Mirage looking over his shoulder to the smaller mech, smiling grimly as wide, shocked blue optics locked onto his own.

**%That could've gotten us ****killed****!%**

Mirage hefted the servo that held Tom in offering before placing him on the topside of the bridge, swinging his legs to gain momentum before lifting the right one onto the ledge, catching it and hauling himself onto the solid surface. Turning back to help the small red and white onto the ledge Mirage offlined his optics briefly, rotating an arm back to point at the human behind him when Fixit continued to stare at him incredulously.

**%Blame him; it was HIS idea.%**

Fixit stared at said human as Mirage continued to train his digit at the small organic, letting out a strange static squeak as the fleshy raised a hand to wave at him in greeting, hiding behind the larger frame as it started walking towards them.

"Wow; I didn't think I was _that_ scary."

Mirage aimed a glare over his shoulder strut before he turned his attention to the thoroughly terrified mech before him, absently directing one of Tom's rude human gestures towards the unfriendly organics as they started yelling at them from the other side of the breach in the bridge—and rather loudly at that.

**%What is wrong Fixit?% **

The smaller mechs vocal processor whined unnaturally before he spoke, words tumbling over each other in his anxiety.

**%Why…..Why do you have an organic? All they want to do is capture us, pick us apart like some sort of twisted puzzle and put us on display. Torture, pain, ****death****—they freeze the very fuel in your lines, dismantle you while you're still aware enough to feel every slice of their scalpels—%**

Mirage roughly grabbed the shoulder struts of the smaller mech as what he was saying registered in his processor, forcing the medic to look in his optics—silently cursing at the vacant expression he found on those face plates. The _last_ thing he needed was to nurse somebot through their first glimpse of non-battlefield brutality.

**%What did you see?% **

**%I-I don't—%**

**%****Tell**** me Fixit! I **_**cannot**_** help you if I do not know the origin of your fear.% **

"Umm; guys? I know that this it probably isn't a good time—if ever—but if we don't get moving soon whatever time we gained will be lost."

Mirage ex-vented in frustration, breaking away from Fixit to scoop up Tom in one servo and stride towards the end of the bridge, pausing to look back at the disoriented mech with the closest thing he had to soft optics.

**%I know that you do not trust the humans; slag, if your reaction is anything to go by I would rather ****vaporize**** them than try and communicate with one, much less let them blindly lead me around the country. But we need to ****move****; if we don't the humans that DID commit the atrocities that you witnessed will find us and capture us, subjecting us to the very things that make you fear them. **

**For this reason I need you to trust—if not the human—in me; Thomas has proven himself a valuable ally. I know that he has saved me from those deplorable humans numerous times.%**

**%I-I don't know….%**

**%Fixit; **_**please**_**. In me.% **

The small medic looked in between Mirage and Tom uncertainly as they awaited his answer, releasing a shaky ex-vent as he transformed and commed his answer.

**:Alright.: **

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

There was perfect silence on the other end of the line as Tom finished telling his story, making the man raise an eyebrow and glance at the phone in his hands before he brought it back up to his ear.

"Uhh; 'Wen?"

"…_..You never __**were**__ any good with directions, were you Tom?" _

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

"Riight_; remind me WHY I had to snatch the map away from you when we were headed up to New York for New Year's Eve—yet somehow managed to end up halfway across Indiana in a day and a half?" _

"…..I hate you."

Morwenna's laughter pealed across their connection as Tom reddened in embarrassment, whacking the dashboard at Mirage's chuckle.

"_In all seriousness; how __**is**__ Fixit? Have you managed to get him to trust you any?" _

Tom sighed.

"No; I understand that what he must've seen must've been terrible, but he should at _least_ be warming up to me—_right_?"

Tom heard 'Wen sigh on the other end of the line; he knew that he was about to get another nugget of _'Wen Wisdom_.

"…_No; not if he's seen what I think he's seen. _

_For all our qualities, the human race is capable of committing the most atrocious of brutalities—__especially__ on beings we consider inferior to ourselves. _

_He's seen the worst side of humanity that __**can**__ be seen by an off-worlder; it's up to you to show him the best of us." _

Mirage was mildly impressed by Thomas' friend; instead of trying to gloss over or even ignore what the medic had witnessed she faced it head on, urging him to show Fixit that there is good in their race—not just immorality.

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line before a small, wary metallic voice spoke out; a voice that very nearly froze every process in the red mechs CPU when he realized what he was hearing.

"_Carrier?"_

"_Yes Vultus?" _

"_Did somebody get hurt like we did?" _

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Hornet could barely contain his laughter as he ducked into the alleyway, diving behind a couple of dumpsters seconds before Mike—what Carbon's sire said they could call him—came running past, giggling into his servo at the bad words that escaped the man's mouth as he searched for the small black and yellow mechling. He and the other sparklings had been cooped inside for a human week because their human caretakers said so—a _week_! They hadn't seen the sun, grass or wind in all that time and Hornet wanted to **play** frag it—for some reason Hot Rod always shot Sunstreaker a really mean look when he said that; he didn't know why.

Shrugging diminutive metal shoulders Hornet exited his hiding place, oblivious to the stares he received at his odd appearance: in addition to his coloring long, thin sensory horns started at the tiny mechs forehelm, bending into slanted orange optics that darted back and forth to catch every detail as he moved further into town with every system on high alert. The sound of laughter caught his attention and slowly drew him towards the source of the noise, optics lighting up in wonder as he watched the tiny humans—they were the same size as him!—play on the crude metallic contraption, enraptured by the joy on each of their faces.

Without registering his movement the mechling slowly crept forward, optics darting from one activity to another as he tried to memorize them all. Maybe Piston Rod would want to play some of them when he got back?

"Hi!"

Hornet squeaked in shock as he suddenly found a fleshing face inches from his own, overbalancing and landing hard on his aft as he stared up at the—femme? It did have the same long hair that carrier did, even if she was _much_ smaller. Bright brown eyes stared down at him from a rounded face, inky black hair fanning out as she tilted her head to the side.

"Who are you?"

Hornet just stared; why wasn't she running away?

"Can't you talk?"

He immediately narrowed his optics; of course he could!

"_Duh_; I just can't figure out why _you're_ not running away."

"Why would I? Unless….You're not gonna…..**eat** me are you?"

"_Ewww_! Why would I _WANT_ to eat an organic like you?!"

The girl giggled at Hornet's thoroughly disgusted tone, holding out a hand to help the small Cybertronian up; she made a noise of surprise as she came in contact with the surprisingly warm metal.

"Oh! You're warm! Most metal…. Well; isn't. It gets really cold at night and so does any metal if you leave it outside—and if it's in the shade sometimes it doesn't warm up at ALL! Oh! I didn't tell you my name! Mom always says that the polite thing to do when meeting new friends is tell them your name and then wait for them to tell you theirs! Sooo….Hi; my name is Kimiko Yamakawa—what's yours? Why did you think I'd be scared of you anyway?"

Hornet just _stared_ at Kimiko as his CPU struggled to process the fastest string of words that had ever been thrown at him. Shaking his helm to clear any lingering data he refocused on the femme, mildly disturbed at the fact that she was still staring at him with that same expectant expression.

"Why _wouldn't_ you be scared? I mean; I'm made out metal and you're…not. Plus the bigger humans are always trying to hurt me and the other sparklings I'm with."

Kimiko frowned, her arms crossing in front of her chest as she spoke in her '_serious'_ voice.

"Grown-ups are so mean when there's someone who doesn't look the same as we do; I don't know why. I mean—you're still a kid, right? Having metal skin just means that you'll sink faster in a pool and that you should never, _EVER_ play outside in a rainstorm."

The yellow and black mechling smiled at her words; she was right!

"In **that** case; Hi Kimiko! My name is Hornet. Would you like—."

Kimiko tilted her head to the side; why did he stop?

"Would I what?"

"…..Would you like to be my friend?"

In response Kimiko held out a hand, smiling broadly as Hornet looked at her in confusion. Neither one noticed the man slowly creeping up behind them.

"SURE!"

The little mechling smiled and copied her action, just about to grab her hand—gently; like carrier taught him—to give her a handshake when something hard slammed into his side, sending him flying across the field of grass they were standing in.

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU **FREAK**!"

Hornet whimpered as he struggled to stand, vocals letting out a shriek of pain as he was kicked over onto his back. A dirty looking human stood over him, face twisted into an ugly sneer as he loomed over the now injured mechling. Optics widened in terror as the human lifted a long metal bar over his head, yelling angrily as Kimiko grabbed onto one of his arms.

"Let **go**!"

"_NOOOOO!_ I won't let you hurt Hornet; he's my _friend_!"

The man grunted.

"He ain't your friend kid; he **attacked** you!"

"He was trying to _shake_ my **hand** before you hit him; _MEANIE_!"

Kimiko yelped as the man growled and knocked her away with a broad swing of his arm, landing on her back and rolling onto her knees before locking gazes with Hornet.

"_**RUN**_!"

Hornet struggled to his pedes as Kimiko tackled the man again, only managing to stumble forward a few steps before he was swept up by the neck in a powerful, vice-like grip. Desperately he clawed at the hand squeezing his neck, intakes wheezing as the grip tightened painfully and he was turned to face the male human dead on.

"Do **NOT** do that again; _understand_?"

Hornet frantically nodded his helm, whimpering as the man threw him down onto the ground; the steel bar rising ominously over the humans head as he prepared to strike. Hornet followed the movement even as everything started to slide out of focus, absently grimacing at the sticky pool of energon that dripped out of his side. Offlining his optics the little mechling waited for the steel to connect with his frame, images of 'Wen and Mike flashing across his processor; it made him whimper softly.

This was it; wasn't it? He would never get to say good-bye—to say how _sorry_ he was that he didn't listen to Mike; sorry that he ran away.

"…I'm sor—."

A strangled yell broke Hornet out of his thoughts, sensors picking up the momentum of a body sailing over his own before slamming into the man with the steel, one optic onlining cautiously as the sounds of humans fighting reached his audial sensors. Optics flared on to their widest setting at the sight that greeted him; the human that had threatened him was bleeding freely from a broken nose, eyes locked warily on the man that had inexplicably _**saved**_ the tiny robotic being.

"Who the **hell** are _you_?"

Michael said nothing as he advanced on the unknown man that had _dared_ to harm little Hornet, fists clenching spasmodically as he tried to keep from delivering a fatal blow. He dodged to the side as the man took a swing at him, sending a powerful punch to his unprotected ribs—a grim smirk appearing as he felt something crunch underneath his hand. He snarled in contempt as said man backed away from him, barely able to hold himself up from the strength of the two blows that had managed to connect.

"Pathetic."

Rushing the man Michael knocked him out with a single uppercut to the jaw, face transforming into a mask of fear and concern as he turned and slowly approached the silent mechling.

"Hornet? Are…Are you alright?"

Hornet flung himself at Michael with a warbled cry, burrowing his helm into the humans' chest as his whole frame trembled in fear and pain. After recovering from having something flung at him so suddenly Michael brought his arms up to encircle the traumatized sparkling, ignoring the slight sting of energon sliding over bare skin as he secured his hold and glanced at the small girl who looked at him with wide eyes. Walking over he held out his other hand to her, lifting her up and placing her on her feet before kneeling in front of her.

"What's your name?"

".K—Kimiko Yamakawa."

"You can't tell _anyone_ about what you've seen today; do you understand Kimiko?"

"But I—."

"**NO ONE**! If anyone found out about Hornet…"

Kimikos eyes widened in fear, gaze riveted on Michael even as she shrank into herself.

"What? What would happen if they found out?"

"They would kill him."

Kimiko whimpered; that was the last thing that she wanted to happen to her friend. Nervously chewing on her lip she thought about what she could do to protect her new metallic friend, a frown marring her features as her mind quickly came up with the answer. Slowly she straightened from her half crouch, looking straight into dark brown eyes as she spoke.

"I promise; I won't tell _ANYBODY_.

…..Will I get to see him again?"

Michael didn't respond as he straightened and started to walk away, pausing at the entrance to the alley as he looked over one shoulder.

"Maybe."

With that he took off at a run down the narrow corridor, praying that he was fast enough in getting the little mechling to Hot Rod before he bled out in his arms. His heart jumped into his throat as he felt Hornet go limp in his grasp, mentally yelling at himself to go faster even as he flew through the streets towards their hiding place; a wave of relief washing through him as it came into view.

"_**HOT ROD!" **_

Said mech looked up from where he was playing with some of the sparklings, shooting to his pedes and crossing the space between them in an astrosecond once he caught sight of the stasis locked sparkling. Plucking the black and yellow mechling from Michaels' arms he quickly strode over to the make-shift Med Bay, thankful that First Aid had _**insisted**_ on teaching him basic med skills as he carefully laid the limp frame onto the '_table'_. Reaching into sub-space he pulled out a scanner and activated it, a frown marring his features as the results popped up on the screen.

Grumbling irritably he reset it and scanned the mechling again, fist slamming into one of the outer walls as the screen beeped at him balefully—it couldn't give him a different answer just because he hit its buttons a million times.

"_**Holy**_—! What's got your pistons in a twist 'Rod?"

Both Michael and Hot Rod turned to look at James from where he stood in the doorway, an involuntary smile crossing Michael's face as the older man was suddenly shoved into the warehouse, a grumpy looking Ruth close behind him.

"Would you get your butt in _gea_—Hot Rod! What's wrong?"

Said mech ex-vented wearily as he turned to face the older femme, shoulders sagging like he carried the weight of the world upon them.

"It's Hornet."

Concern immediately washed over Ruth's features as she set the groceries down next to the door, striding over to the base of their examination table before looking up at Hot Rod expectantly.

"Well?"

This time it was Hot Rod's turn to smile wryly, servo descending to lay flat against the concrete as he waited for Ruth to climb up on it. As soon as he was certain that she wouldn't fall the red mech lifted his servo so that it was level with the edge of the table, waiting impatiently for her to clamber off before pulling out two grey cords—Michael thought that they kinda looked like jumper cables—and plugging one end into the scanner on the table. Punching in a line of code to change the scanners function Hot Rod gently prodded Hornet's chest plates open, an unconscious sound of relief escaping him as he caught sight of the mechlings spark still beating within its chamber.

Attaching the other ends of the cords onto either end of the chamber Hot Rod began the delicate task of repairing the ruptures to Hornet's energon lines, humming distractedly as Ruth called his name.

"Is Hornet goin' to be alright?"

He paused in his work to look down at the human femme, shutters closing for a long moment before he re-powered his optics, a grim smile gracing his face plates.

"I can get him into a stable enough state to where he is unlikely to depart us from the sudden dispersion of his spark; _unfortunately_ if he **remains** in stasis lock—I believe you humans call it a coma—for a long period of time his field will lose resonance with his inner core and his spark will literally _tear_ itself apart from the discordant harmonics. This is especially true because his spark cannot correct the imbalance like a full-grown Cybertronian could.

Only one mech can help him now."

James and Ruth looked at Hot Rod in expectation while Michael pinched the bridge of his nose; he should've paid more attention to the little mechling.

"Who?"

All four looked to the leg of one table where the rest of the sparklings had gathered, quickly identifying a small black and white mechling as the speaker.

"What do you mean who Breakout?"

The little ones visor glinted as he tilted his helm to the side.

"You said that there was only one person who could help Hornet; Who?"

Hot Rod hummed absently as he turned his attention back onto the stasis-locked sparkling.

"Ratchet."

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"Are the experiments inside?"

"Affirmative."

"And the female?"

"Negative; Donahue is with them however along with an elderly couple: possibly the same people that own the ranch a short distance from the base."

"Understood."

A short pause.

"Orders?"

"Follow them for now; if they can lead us to the rest and we capture them then we'll be sitting pretty for the rest of our lives. Priority comm. talk only."

"Understood; Street Rat out."

Absently the man winced and rubbed at the tender area of his jaw as he cut comm.s; they would regret messing with Sector 7.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Fea: Dun dun duun~!

Next time on Incarnation:

The movie story-line progresses with some twists along the way and Morwenna lays the smackdown on Simmons ass.

Review my mechlings!


	9. The Offer

Fea: Alright; I would've posted this last night but I had duty so that floated like a lead balloon. I don't own it blah blah blah….do I really need to say something that anyone with half a brain should think of on their own?

I want to thank all of my reviewers—after all, reviews are the life-blood of the writer—and followers—thank you for making my story look so popular—for being so patient. I cannot thank you enough.

Now, review answers:

XxShadowFangxX: I'm glad you liked it. I'm trying to make him like the kid-like big brother—the reason why will become apparent in later chapters. Things are gettin' crazy.

Cool: Thank you!

Angel897: They will; it might not be apparent at first but they will.

Now; onto the story!

'_allspark'_—thought

**:Allspark:—**comms

**#allspark#—**bond

Hic—roughly equal to 1 kilometer

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Morwenna sighed as they sped down the street leading to Sam's house, head throbbing from the surprisingly high decibel that Mirage had reached once the shock of actually _HEARING_ a sparkling had worn off. After giving a brief overview of how she had found the sparklings—which promptly made the noble **hate** all humans other than the two he had already met—she had laid out her plans for turning the tide at Mission City, an audible sigh of relief leaving her lips when the stubborn mech finally agreed.

Steeling herself for what she knew would be the hardest part of her plan Morwenna hopped out of Sunstreakers alt mode as the mechs in front of them rolled to a stop, sparing a short glance back at him as she gestured with her hand.

"Get them out of here."

She received a rev in return before the yellow Lamborghini reversed out of the alleyway, tires squealing against the pavement as he took off in the direction that would lead him _**AWAY**_ from the now fast approaching Sector Seven.

"Now wher is he off tah?"

Morwenna chuckled at Ironhides confusion as she moved towards Bumblebee, shaking her head at Sam's frenzied instructions to Mikaela, who watched at him with a surprised look in her eyes. Snagging him by the arm as he rushed past she made sure to catch his eyes with her own, smiling disarmingly as he looked at her in question.

"Your bag is on the island in the kitchen; be a good boy and take out the trash so that you have an excuse to come outside again eh?"

Slowly Sam nodded his head, shooting furtive glances over his shoulder as he made his way to the back porch—where he was _**thoroughly**_ distracted by his father. Ignoring the rather—interesting conversation that was happening between the two Morwenna very deliberately sat on the hood of Optimus' alt mode, preventing the Prime from transforming for fear of accidentally crushing the fragile organic as she turned her attention to the black Topkick.

"In answer to your question Ironhide, Sunstreaker went off to get the sparklings to a safe location—I think you'd agree that we don't want them anywhere _near_ Sector Seven."

Ironhide grunted in agreement before growing still, an unsettling silence falling over them as the minutes passed. The beginning sounds of transformation had Morwenna looking at Jazz sharply, her hand swiftly extracting one of the phones from her back pocket before snapping forward to throw it at the saboteur with surprising accuracy.

"_OW!" _

"W-what the _f-frag_ did you d-do th-that for human-n?!"

She laughed as Frenzy transformed and dashed up to Optimus' grill, chittering at her angrily in binary as Jazz finished transforming and fixed her with a hurt look—at least, that's what she thought it was, though it was hard to tell with his visor blocking his optics; even **if** the prominent pout was hard to miss.

"You'll only make it worse if you try to speed things up. Think of this as an infiltration mission—something to be handled in such a way that no one even knew that you were there, **NOT** somethin' ta fraggin' rush inta with guns blazin'!"

"B-but why did you t-throw _me_?!"

She shrugged.

"I knew you could handle it."

Frenzy froze and stared up at her with optics cycled to their widest setting as chuckles broke out all around him—even the younger _femme_ was laughing at the thoroughly pole-axed expression on his alien face, which did nothing to ease the near painful lock in his processor. After a few excruciating minutes he was able to shake the impending crash from his systems, growling softly as a processor ache started at the center of his forehelm. Miraculously executing a rude human gesture the symbiote moodily scuttled away, stubbornly ignoring the footsteps that sounded behind him.

"Frenzy?...

**Damn**; look, I'm sorry for throwing you Frenzy. It was uncouth and entirely unwarranted and I should have never done it without at least asking for your permission first.

….Though you have to admit; catching Jazz _completely_ off guard like that _was_ amusing."

Slowly his optics brightened—the closest expression of amusement he could achieve in his current state; it _was_ comically ironic that the _**one time**_ he caught the annoying saboteur off guard is when the human threw him. Moving forward at a slower pace he pretended not to notice when the femme kept following him, his entire frame perking as he caught the signatures of seven human vehicles approaching. Quickly making his way to the entrance of the alleyway he looked towards the source of the pings, an odd hiss escaping his vocalizer as his optics caught sight of those **STUPID** human drones.

"Frenzy? What's wrong?"

"S-stupid hum-mans in black-k dr—_**H-HEY**_!"

Frenzy let out an indignant yell as Morwenna snatched him up roughly before sprinting back towards the others, running straight past a confused Jazz as she landed a heavy fist onto Optimus' hood, ignoring everyone else's shouts of outrage and confusion as she pointed to the other end of the alley.

"The Allspark is located within Hoover Dam; have either Jazz or Bumblebee waiting at the very top at noon tomorrow and wait for Sam and I to emerge; we will bring the Allspark to you. You need to leave **NOW**; Sector Seven are almost here and if they catch you Kaon will look like _a walk in the park_ compared to what they will do to you. I promise to keep Sam safe and keep the glasses from their hands.

Mikaela, go with them; you'll be safer that way and I doubt that Bumblebee will let them drop you off anywhere—and if they _**try**_ to bully him just threaten to take 'em apart like you would any other car; understood?"

Mikaela slowly nodded her head, eyes half glazed as she tried to make sense of the words.

"Uhh; yea?"

Morwenna nodded sharply.

Now **go**!"

The mechs engines idled in confusion as they tried to process her words, Prime shooting forward as the sound of unfamiliar human voices reached his audial sensors.

**:Autobots; fall back!: **

**:Bu—!: **

**: There's no ****time**** Bumblebee; we will loop around and help the humans if we can, I promise you, but we MUST know what we're up against.: **

Morwenna had Frenzy transform back into a phone as the last of the Autobots disappeared around the corner, raising her hands above her head with a smirk across her face as members of Sector Seven surrounded her.

"Too slow."

Dodging one of the soldiers as he tried to hit her with the butt end of his rifle she followed complacently as she was guided to the front of the house, waving cheerily at Sam as they were herded into one of the SUV's, Sam's parents going into another. Her smirk turned into a nasty grin as a certain Sector agent got into the passenger's seat, noting where the driver put his cell phone before pulling away from the house.

Just in case.

"So uh; Ladies man 217. That is your eBay username, right?"

Sam seemed to get flustered at the mention of his username, a half-thought excuse flying from his mouth in an attempt to explain.

"Yea b-but you know it was a typo and I ran with it."

"What do you make of this?"

Hitting a button on the phone the sector agent smirked at Sam's dumbfounded look as the recording played, a hint of confusion entering his eyes as he caught Morwenna glowering in his direction.

"That you?"

"Uhhh…."

Taking that as an answer he forged ahead, throwing a questioning glance at the still glowering woman. What did she have against him? Other than the sudden—acquiring of her person that is.

"Last night at the station you told the officer your car _TRANSFORMED_.

Enlighten me."

"Here's what I said, ok, b—."

"Sam."

Both men turned to look at Morwenna, her glower replaced by a look of contempt as she spoke.

"I am only going to say this once Simmons;

**You** are the fragging aft-headed mechling of a triple glitched half processing _motherboard_ and I pray to _Primus_ that you're far, **FAR** away when Megatron unthaws—otherwise you will have a **VERY** slagged-off Decepticon to deal with."

Morwenna leaned back in her seat as they stared at her in confusion; Sam with a mix of horror that she would so blatantly say something so—alien so readily.

"What did you just—_What did she just say to me?" _

Sam tensed at having the question directed at him, shooting Morwenna a panicked glance before he replied.

"Well I uh;…It-it sounded kind of like she insulted you?"

Simmons face transformed into an angry snarl as he whipped out his badge, practically shoving it under the brunette woman's nose as he glared at her.

"You see this? This is an _"I-can-do-whatever-I-want-and-get-away-with-it" _badge. I'm gonna lock you up forever if you don't tell me what I want to know!"

"Riiiight; you're just afraid that you'll get fired and hafta work in your mom's meat shop for the rest of your life."

In an instant Simmons face transformed from scorn to shock, incoherent muttering coming out of his mouth as Morwenna looked on with a smug expression. Feeling a slight poke on her behind she shifted so that she wasn't sitting directly on the small symbiote hidden in her pocket, mildly surprised at the fact that the radiation detector thingie that they kept in the front seat wasn't picking up on his signature. Maybe he was small enough that her body shielded him from detection?

The rest of the ride passed in silence as they sped out of the city and Morwenna released an explosive breath of air that she didn't know she'd been holding; they hadn't tried to rescue them. Now she could only hope that the rest would go as planned.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

The rising sun painted the desert landscape in a bright orange glow, the ambient temperature of the air rising rapidly once the glowing orb crested above the horizon. Morwenna sat back in the seat with her eyes closed, humming softly as Sam stared uncomfortably at the other two occupants in the cockpit.

"So…"

"What'd they get you for?"

"Uh; I bought a car—turned out to be an alien robot.

Who knew?"

Morwenna couldn't help but grin at the looks she knew must be on each of their faces, one eye opening in question as her foot was lightly kicked.

"And you?"

She shrugged.

"Aiding and abetting in the escape of several alien robotic beings. Apparently helping them escape from the government **isn't** a good idea.

Who knew?"

She leaned back as the kids spoke among themselves, allowing the repetitive thumping of the rotors to lull her into a light dose. Though they did not know it yet, the easy part of their adventure was over. The true struggle was about to begin.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

**:Why didn't you let me help them?!: **

Optimus inwardly winced at the intensity of the young scouts' comm., spark twisting at the sight of the young one looking at him with hurt and betrayal in those large blue optics.

"Could you **not sense** the forces that surrounded the convoy? There were enough humans there to keep a 5 hic perimeter on their location at all times—I would like to think that a scout such as yourself would know that you couldn't have gone more than a thousand _mechanometers_ without being caught."

Bumblebee's doorwings drooped at what Ratchet said before jerking upright as another thought entered his processor.

**:But what if they hurt Sam?: **

Jazz shook his helm as he jumped down from the top of a low human building, grabbing the youngling by a yellow shoulder strut and turning him so that they were facing each other, his faceplates the very image of seriousness as he spoke.

"We hafta believe that 'Wen will protect him like she promised; and she doesn't seem like the type ta go back on her promises."

"So we ahre just suppos'd ta blindly follow the word of a derang'd human just 'cause ya _THINK_ she's trust-worthie; ya must be madder th'n Sunstorm if ya think that'll convince meh."

"Hey; just because she wasn't able to tell you everything she knew doesn't make her deranged you know!"

Ironhide looked down at the feisty black-haired femme who glared at him in indignation from where she stood at his pede, snorting in a dismissive manner as he refocused on the saboteur. Jazz frowned at the black mechs attitude and was just about to retort when Ratchet interrupted him, the distant look in his optics catching everyone's attention.

"I sense the Decepticons are getting ready to mobilize."

"They know wher' the Allspark is as well."

**:But what about Sam?: **

Optimus sighed as he looked out over the landscape; pulling up directions to this _'Hoover Dam' _that Morwenna had told him about as he did so.

"Jazz—you have the frequency of Frenzy's comm., do you not?"

"I do Optimus; why'd ya ask?"

"I want you to ping his location; if it is near or heading towards this_ 'Hoover Dam'_ that Morwenna mentioned we will continue to follow her direction."

"Why ahre we ev'n fightin' ta save the humans? They ahre a primitive an' violent race."

Michaela snorted.

"Says the robot who introduced himself with weapons **fully** charged and _ready to __**fire**_."

"Why you—."

Optimus sighed; did they truly not understand?

"Were we so different?

They're a young species; they have much to learn, but I have seen goodness in them.

Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.

You all know that there is only one way to end this war—we **MUST** destroy the Cube. If all else fails, I will unite it with the spark in my chest."

**#NO!# **

"That's suicide; the cube is _raw power_; it could destroy you **both**."

Optimus struggled to keep his emotions in check at the spark-rending denial of his bond-mate, sending a return pulse laced with heaviness and regret as he spoke.

"A necessary sacrifice to bring peace to this planet; we _**CANNOT**_ let the humans pay for our mistakes. It has been an honor serving with you all."

"Prime."

"Yes Jazz?"

"His signal is centered directly on top of the Dam."

Optimus nodded his helm to show that he had heard, allowing himself to briefly clasp Ratchet's shoulder before moving away.

"Autobots; Roll Out!"

As they transformed and drove in the direction of the Dam, Optimus could only hope that he was making the right choice.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"Attention!

Present Arms!"

Captain William Lennox and his team executed their orders with military precision, turning his attention to Secretary Keller as he began to speak.

"At ease.

Captain, Sargent—got your Intel; excellent work."

"Thank you Sir—what about the gunships?"

"They're being retrofitted with sable rounds now; if they hit us again we'll be ready for them. But uh, it won't do us much good if we can't get world communications back up."

Sudden laughter had them all looking towards the other walkway, the angry posture of the man in the beret immediately catching the Army captains' attention. His older looking counterpart closed in on the chestnut haired woman who laughed; his even, measured tone more effective than any amount of yelling.

"Ma'am, I need you to listen to me _very carefully_. People could die here; we need to know everything you know and we need to know it **now**."

The woman shook her head before looking at him in obvious amusement, shifting her weight onto one leg as she spoke.

"If I were to tell you everything I _knew_, Tom Banachek, we would be here from now until _Christmas_."

A look of utter shock spread across Banachek's face, mouth hanging uselessly for a moment as he tried to regain the ability to speak.

"Look; tell Sam where his parents are, erase a one Michaela Banes juvie record," here she ignored the surprised look Sam gave her, "and for Primus' sake take me to the Allspark and I'll answer whatever questions you have of me."

Tom nodded briskly before lightly grabbing her arm, gesturing for Sam to follow as he led them towards a set of stairs.

"Walk with me; we'll talk."

Tom's beret wearing friend shook his head bemusedly, muttering _"She's an extortionist" _underneath his breath before turning towards Lennox and his men, indicating that they should follow as he headed towards the stairs as well.

"Sir?"

Lennox sighed; damn civilians made no sense sometimes.

"Follow them; we were brought here for a reason—it's time we found out what."

Nodding his men filled in after the man, Lennox taking one last look around the walkway they were standing on before heading below.

'_I haven't even been able to tell Sarah that I'm alive yet.' _

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"You've all had _direct_ contact with the NBE's."

The Beret-wearing man—Lennox found out that his name was Simmons—addressed them all as he led them down a walkway at the bottom of Hoover Dam, civilians walking to either side of him while Lennox and his men formed up the rear. Epps looked over at Simmons in confusion, voicing the question that was on everyone's minds.

"NBE's?"

"Non-Biological Extraterrestrials; try to keep up with the acronyms."

Veering off to the left Simmons led them down a circular stone tunnel that went underneath the mountain, the faint splashing of feet walking across puddles echoing around them as a faint light became visible at the end.

"What you're about to see is totally classified."

At first Lennox had no clue what Simmons was talking about; then he saw **HIM**.

A hulking silver behemoth rose above them, his entire body a collage of dangerously sharp points and angled curves—even his **mouth** looked dangerous, all fangs with no lips.

'_If his kind even __**has**__ lips.' _

Secretary Keller took a half step forward as he stared at the thing, voicing the question that was on nearly everyone's mind.

"Dear god; what is this?"

Banachek kept on walking forward as the civilians followed in awe; though Lennox noticed that the boy—Sam?—also had a bit of fear in his eyes while the woman was glaring at it in contempt. How she could glare at something so—alien with contempt was beyond him, but she did it all the same.

"We think when he made his approach over the North Pole our gravitational field screwed up his telemetry; crashed in the ice probably a few thousand years ago. We shipped him to this facility in 1934."

"We call him N.B.E 1."

"Does that mean that there's a zero around here somewhere?"

Simmons face turned ugly as he got inside the woman's personal space, anger coloring every word that he spoke.

"Listen here you poor imitation of a Hooter's call-girl; I don't know **WHY**—."

"Montana."

Lennox had to admit—he had never seen a man go from fully enraged to white with fear quite like Simmons did at the mention of that state. Nor did he miss the shocked, yet calculating look that Banachek gave his younger counterpart, which made the Army captain wonder; what had Simmons done that would make even his own _PARTNER_ suspicious of him?

"A-anyways _*hm-hm!*…_We call him N.B.E 1."

"Sir;" Lennox couldn't help the tiny smile that crossed his face as the boy interrupted Simmons once more, rolling his eyes as Epps not so subtly sniggered behind his hand.

"I don't mean to correct you on everything you think you know, but….that's Megatron."

Dark eyes narrowed at the boy as most of the attention turned back to him, Wendy—it was better than calling her woman every time he thought of her—seemingly searching this "_Megatron's_" face for something indefinable.

"He's the Leader of the Decepticons."

'_Decepticons?' _

"He's been in cryo-stasis since 1935; your great-great grandfather made one of the most important discoveries in the history of mankind."

"Fact is you're looking at the source of the modern age; microchip, lasers, space flight, cars all made by reverse-engineering him—"

"And **that's** why he's going to destroy this place once he thaws."

Simmons let out a wordless noise of frustration as she once again interrupted him, Banachek cautiously edging away from the infuriated man before talking to her.

"What do you mean Miss…?"

"Morwenna; I have a question for you.

If **YOU** were imprisoned by beings that were _weaker, smaller_, _less intelligen_t, and of a _**shorter**__ life span_ than your own race and were **tortured** and slowly **cannibalized** by said race; what would **YOU** do?

Could you _honestly_ say that you could forgive their ignorance and let it go—or would you **kill** as many of the ones that had imprisoned you as possible before destroying their _entire world_ in retribution?

I ask you; what choice do you think **HE** will make once he is freed from this Hell?"

There was utter silence as everyone grasped the implications behind her words, Banachek's face paling in slowly dawning terror while Simmons seemed to scoff at the situation.

"That will never happen."

"Maybe not in the past, but you forget; you now have two humans that the opposing faction—Autobots—consider to be allies and friends. The Decepticons will become suspicious—after all, why would the human government want to arrest us if they had never seen a Cybertronian before?

That will lead to them asking questions, and it won't be long after that they will come to the logical conclusion and follow our trail here. And once they find out that us _'puny flesh-bags'_ have been holding their lord prisoner…

Well; I leave the likely outcome of our fate for you to decide."

Keller stared at the giant silver being for a while longer before a shock of energy seemed to run through him, rounding on a surprised Banachek in anger as he gestured wildly with his hands.

"And you didn't think that the United States Military **might** need to know that you're keeping a hostile alien robot _frozen_ in the basement?"

"Until these _events_ we had no credible threat to national security."

Keller stared at him incredulously, as if he couldn't believe that the older man had just said that.

"Well you got one _now_."

Lennox stared at the giant, frozen enemy before him, multiple scenarios running through his head on how to take this thing down with the weapons he had on hand—the outcome wasn't very promising. However, there was one thing that didn't make sense.

"So why Earth?"

"It's the Allspark."

"Allspark? What's that?"

Sam paused before speaking, looking over to Morwenna for permission, smiling and forging ahead as she nodded her approval.

"It's some sorta cube looking thing; anyway Mr. N.B.E 1 here a.k.a **MEGATRON**—that's what they call him—is pretty much the harbinger of death and wants to use the cube to transform human technology to take over the universe. That's their plan."

"And you're sure about that?"

"Yeah."

Sam looked at the uncomfortable way that Banachek and Simmons were shifting and he grinned.

"You guys know where it is; don't you?"

Banachek snapped his attention to the boy, hesitating briefly before reaching a decision.

"Follow me."

Going into one of the smaller side tunnels Banachek led them up a flight of stairs and down a hallway that led to a wooden door, Simmons shouldering his way to the front and opening the door as he spoke.

"You are about to see our crown jewel."

The rom they stepped into was lined with marble tile, seven black-and-white photos' lining one wall while a large bay window took up the other wall. But they hardly paid attention to the room; their attention was fixed on the object that they could see through the glass, the dark grey carved metal rising like an ancient monolith out of the surrounding bedrock.

"Carbon dating puts the Cube here at around 10,000 B.C; the First Seven didn't find it until 1913. They knew it was alien because of the matching hieroglyphics on the Cube as well as N.B.E 1. President Hoover had the Dam built around—four football field's thick of concrete; the perfect way to hide its energy from being detected by anyone or any alien species on the outside."

Maggie looked over at him in curiosity.

"Wait; back up. You said that the Dam hides the Cubes energy—what kind exactly?"

"Good question."

Banachek once again had everyone follow him into an adjacent room, nobody noticing 'Wen's shiver of disgust as they stared at the tech in fascination, Banachek motioning for everyone to step into the room.

"Please step inside; they have to lock us in."

Epps looked around the room in curiosity, eyes catching on the multiple talon marks that lined one of the steel walls.

"Whuh; Freddy Kruger been up in here or sum'n?"

"Aw nawh man; Freddy Kruger had four blades; man that's only three that's Wolverine!"

Glen started making growly, swipey noises as he laughed in a childish manner, slowly tapering off as he noticed Simmons staring at him intently.

"That's very funny.

Anybody have any mechanical devices; Blackberry, Key alarm, cell phone?"

"I got a phone."

Morwenna swiftly dug Frenzy out of her back pocket and brought him down to her side, texting five letters into his screen as she watched Simmons intently.

**^gt rdy^ **

Grabbing the phone from Glen Simmons walked around to the opening of a glass and metal cube, opening the phone with uncharacteristic reverence as he spoke.

"Whuh; Nokia's are real nasty; you've gotta respect the Japanese. They know the Way of the Samurai."

A confused look crossed over Maggie's features.

"Nokia's from Finland."

"Yes, but he's; ya know…"

Keller made a '_sush'_ gesture with his lips and forefinger and pointed at Simmons.

"A little strange; he's a little strange."

Morwenna tensed as the machine powered up and pulled down her goggles, adjusting her grip on Frenzy nervously. Simmons walked around the edge of the room, flipping circuit breakers as he spoke.

"We're able to take the Cube radiation…..and funnel it into that box."

Morwenna nearly jumped when the power of the Allspark struck the phone, arm snapping forward as she heard the tell-tale signs of a first transformation.

"**NOW FRENZY!" **

Complete chaos erupted as she threw the transforming symbiote at the cage, vaulting over the top of the box and swiftly knocking the controller button out of Banachek's hand. Kicking Simmons back as he tried to reach for the button she yanked the entire thing from where it was attached to the glass box, ducking as something passed a hairsbreadth from her head. Using the broken end like a whip she cracked it into Lennox's and Epps' hands, using her elbow to smash through the glass where Frenzy had weakened it, snatching up the newly sparked micro-bot and the symbiote before moving into one corner of the room.

Holding the two transformers behind her body she glared at anybody who tried to move towards her, hitting them across the shoulder with her make-shift whip if they got too close.

Simmons cursed up a storm as he struggled to his feet, glaring at the brunette woman with utter _loathing_ as he brushed imagined dust off of his uniform.

"**WHAT** is your problem?!"

Morwenna smiled savagely.

"I just saved you from making the second biggest mistake of your **life**."

"**Really!" **

"Really."

"And **what** was the first mistake, if I am _worthy_ enough to ask."

"You were **stupid** enough to mess with powers you did not understand."

Simmons glare shifted into confused scorn, taking a half-step forward as he peered into her face.

"What do you mean by that?"

Morwennas expression shifted into a condescending smile, giving Lennox and his men a significant glance as she straightened her stance.

"Let me ask you this; if a newborn child is confronted with someone or something it is not familiar with, what is the first thing they do?"

Lennox answered, his mind immediately going to Annabelle.

"They cry."

"Good; now—do you have any **idea** as to what the Allspark actually _**IS**_?"

Everyone shook their head no, watching with rapt attention as Morwenna took one last look at the gathered humans before moving her hand so that it was in front of her, smiling gently at the blue-opticed micro-bot that stared at her with wide optics. The silver symbiote that rode on her wrist glared at the gathered humans before climbing up to her shoulder, hissing irritably as everyone tried to get a better look at him.

"Hello little one; my name is Morwenna a—"

"T-tell those s-stupid _**fleshlings**_ to stay _away_ fr-rom the sparkling i-if they value their s-hort l-life spans!"

Lennox felt a peculiar sinking sensation as the little silver bot on Morwenna's shoulder finished speaking; from the way it was talking, it almost sounded like—

"Morwenna?"

The little bot in her hand snapped its head around at the sound of his voice, a chirp of fear escaping its vocals as it noticed all of the _not-protectors-potential-harmers_ that surrounded it. Immediately Morwenna brought her hand up so that the 'bot laid directly over her heart, humming softly and stroking the tiny spinal strut with her forefinger.

"It's alright sweet spark; I won't let them hurt you."

Still humming Morwenna returned her attention to the captain, smiling softly as she noticed the ashen look on his face.

"Yes Lennox?"

He didn't even question how she knew his name, swallowing to try and wet his suddenly dry throat as he stared at the tiny robotic being in her hand.

"T—the one you call Frenzy called the robot in your hand a sparkling; what does that mean? In human terms I mean."

"A _sparkling_—in human terms—is the equivalent of a newborn human _child_."

Simmons froze at her words, eyes widening to near comical proportions as he weakly grabbed onto the destroyed glass box, the meaning of his actions truly sinking in for the first time. Banachek seemed similarly affected; mustache standing out in stark contrast to his pale face as trembling lips struggled to form words.

"So….so the Allspark is—is—"

"Their source of new life?

**Yes**.

For them, this war is more than _**just**_ a mere conquest for power; it is for the very future of their race—and their planet."

"I…..I was ordering experiments on—on _children_?"

Morwenna's gaze hardened as she shifted her attention to Simmons, glancing at Frenzy in warning as he hissed in anger.

"The only reason I am **not** letting Frenzy exact retribution right here and now is because I _really_ don't want to be stuck inside a concrete box with a corpse—and you only did what you did in ignorance, though that will not spare you from punishment when the Autobots find out; only death."

Simmons looked like he was about to faint.

"…._Death_?"

She nodded gravely.

"Cybertronians value their sparklings, their _**children**_ above all else; even as embroiled in this war as they are no one would _dare_ harm one unless they had a death wish.

Even if it's a sparkling of the _opposing faction_ they will not harm one for without them, when the final adult mechs and femmes die, so too does their **entire race**."

Simmons nodded absently before falling flat on his face in a dead faint, everyone else staring at the woman in shock as they tried to process what she had just told them. Just then there was a series of dull explosions that rocked the room they were in, lights flickering ominously as Morwenna smiled grimly.

"_**THAT**_ would be Starscream."

Banachek grunted as he made his way over to the P.A. system, shoving a couple of Lennox' men out of the way as he activated the speaker.

"Banachek; what's going on?"

"The N.B.E. 1 hanger has lost power and the back-up generator just isn't going to cu—"

"**SIR!" **

Banacheks eyes narrowed in irritation; **what** could _possibly_ be more important than the N.B.E 1 hangar?

"_What?" _

There was a hysteric edge in the man's voice as he spoke, loud crashes and static-like cursing sounding in the background.

"There's a _smaller_ silver N.B.E. in the main hangar and it is managing to **avoid** all of our attacks!"

Morwenna made a noise of frustration as she pushed her way to the door, banging on the door repeatedly as everyone looked on in confusion. The instant the door was unlocked she pushed it open and shot down the hallway, ignoring the various calls for her to slow down and come back as she used the railing to slide down the stairs, stumbling once she reached the bottom.

Quickly righting herself she sped down the last length of the tunnel as she put the small sparkling in a secure place right next to her chest, focus narrowing on the Sector agent nearest her as she shot out of the entrance. Plowing into him at full force she swiftly brought him to the ground, yanking the weapon out of his hand and ramming it straight into his face, taking another out in a similar manner before she had to duck behind a piece of equipment, hissing as Frenzy's sharp pincers dug into her shoulder.

"JAZZ! TAKE THEIR DAMN WEAPONS FROM THEM ALREADY!"

Morwenna didn't even _try_ to hold onto her stolen weapon as Jazz' electromagnets swiftly yanked it out of her hands, head rising above her cover when all firing had ceased.

"Well; that wasn't 'xactly a friendly greetin' now was it?"

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Fea: Tada!

Next time on Incarnation: Discovery and escape, the Allspark is retrieved and an unexpected twist is thrown into the story. Oh; someone gets converted too!


	10. The Connection

Fea: HAPPY NEW YEARS! Hey; we're still here! I guess the whole 2012 thing didn't happen after all huh? I wonder how many people were convinced that the world was going to end the 21st. Eh; whatev.

Ppls ta thank:

XxShadowFangxX: I'm glad you liked this last chapter and hopefully you'll like this one too!

Angel897: I guess you'll just have to read to find out won't you?

Beclaws Reasons: Wow I've never heard that before. Thank you for saying that about IofC!

Cool: I plan on it!

Mai-Long: Thank you; glad you like it!

Guest: Idk who you are but thanks!

WarriorKat21: Thanks! *shifty eyes* That….is still up for debate.

Gaia Kame: Thank you for saying so. I just wanted to make a story that helped explain some of the gaps in the movies to **myself**—I never thought that IofC would get as many followers as it did! Thank you!

TinkotheWolf: Whoah! Thank you for your enthusiasm. As I explained to Gaia Kame, I just wanted the story-line to make more sense—and let's face it, actually meeting one of the big guys is like a Transfans dream come true. As for Galloway—guess you're gonna hafta find out.

Sunshine: Thank you! Am I really the first to try and explain it from their viewpoint? Wow; I thought someone else would've thought of it before me. Hopefully you'll like these next few chapter's too!

Ditto: I plan to. Transformers forever!

2nd Guest: LOL. Here's some more for you; hope ya like it!

YueLilianPotter: Will do!

EvilPurpleCookiePenkeyMongui n: Your name is really long—just being Captain Obvious about it. Of course I'll continue!

Flamingfoxviper: Thank ya kindly.

I also want to thank all of those favoriting and subscribing readers out there. Your support gives me the drive to try even harder in my stories—and to try and put out chapters in a timely manner.

Thank you.

Now; onto the story!

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!"

Angered shouts and sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the warehouse as Michael and James were hurriedly lifting sparklings into the back of the truck, wincing as a particularly loud explosion ripped through the early morning air, the resounding thump and dent in the side of the warehouse letting them know that they were almost out of time if _**Hot Rod **_was being pushed back. Hurriedly scanning the room Michael was just about to hop in the cab when he noticed a flash of green plating, cursing underneath his breath as he dashed towards it.

"_Where are you going?!" _

He paused to look back at James, pointedly ignoring the pleading look that Carbon was sending his way—no matter how much it tore at his heart to do so.

"Perimeter checks to make sure we didn't miss anything. You see any sign of those Sector people you get the hell out of here; Hot Rod and I _alone_ can escape more easily than all of us together and we can meet up once the heat has cooled down."

"Bu—."

"_James!_ Anyone who's _**not me**_ tries to approach you, you split—**understood?**"

"…Understood."

Nodding briskly Michael jogged off in the direction that he had seen the movement, looking carefully in any spaces that might be large enough for a sparkling to hide. Soft, rapid clicking filled his ears the farther he walked into the warehouse, anger immediately switching to grim concern at the sound. Sparklings only made that noise when they were terrified.

He was surprised when he rounded the next corner and nearly tripped over the very sparkling he had been searching for, dropping to his knees, tugging it to his chest and humming deeply in the time it took the little one to let out a high pitched squeak of surprise. Holding the position until the panicked struggling of the sparkling ceased he grabbed slim shoulders to gently turn it around, smiling gently as pale cyan lens brightened in recognition through pink tears of energon.

"Mike!"

Michael was thrown onto his back as the sparkling threw itself into the protection of his arms, the small sparkling clicking with relief and exhaustion as it buried its faceplates into his neck. Grunting as he hit the ground Michael automatically wrapped his arms around the sparkling to keep him from falling off of his chest, gently stroking the small ones center support strut as he rolled to his feet.

"Why did you run Seafoam?"

Said sparkling whined as he pressed himself even closer to Michaels form, audial fins twitching nervously as his lens covered optics stared straight up at the man.

"Too loud."

"What was too loud?"

"Noise: crashing too loud; tried to get away. Heartbeat nice."

Michael's eyes widened in slowly dawning comprehension as he moved from cover to cover as he slowly made his way back to the truck, well aware that they could already be gone—or captured. Shaking his head to rid himself of the disturbing thought he dropped into a crouch the closer he got to the position of the truck, almost clearing the last row of crates when Seafoam tugged on his shirt, shaking a tiny helm and pressing lip plates next to his ear.

"Strange humans; seven of them."

Then he pointed towards the southwest corner of the warehouse.

"Hot Rod that way."

Michael nodded as he altered their course, senses on high alert as he made his way to the rear of the building, lips barely moving as he spoke.

"You are going to have to tell me how you know that sometime little one."

He felt Seafoam shrug in his arms.

"Heartbeats; all different—unfamiliar. Sparkbeat—Hot Rod's."

Michael mumbled something that sounded like an agreement as he dashed from row to row, eyes widening as he saw a pair of combat boots peek around the corner a split second before the rest of the sector agent came into view. Angling his shoulders like a linebacker he plowed into the man's chest, legs pumping furiously as the man's partner started yelling.

"It's an N.B.E and one of the humans! They're headed towards the rear of the warehouse!"

Michael cursed as gunfire sounded and the wooden crates seemed to explode and splinter before his eyes, Seafoam keening from the painful overload of audial sensory data. Eyes darted to every available route as he neared the corner of the building, gritting his teeth in grim determination as he leapt up the stairs to the narrow steel walkway and sprinted towards the end. Raising one arm to protect his face he smashed through the window at the end, grunting as the shock from landing raced up his legs as the same pain lanced up his forearm, scrambling to find some cover as the sector agents began shooting at him from the window.

The whine of a high performance engine had Michael whipping his head around in relief, grimacing as something zinged up his calf seconds before Hot Rod slammed to a stop in front of them, doors snapping open as his engine revved impatiently.

"Get in!"

Sliding into the driver's seat Michael made sure to flip off all the pissed sector agents as they sped away, hissing as a curious—_thing_ poked at his calf. Slapping the thing in a knee-jerk reaction Mike looked down at the offending spot on his leg, eyebrow rising at the growing spot of blood on his leg.

'_Huh; so __**THAT'S**__ what that was.' _

"Are you alright Michael? Your leg is leaking fluids at an alarming rate."

"I'll be fine; a tourniquet and a knife to—ohp; never mind, it's a through-and-through. Anyways, a tourniquet and some kind of bandage for the wound and I'll be fine; suffered worse than this over in Afghanistan."

Hot Rod said nothing as he opened the internal compartment that held his small supply of human medical equipment, wincing internally as Michael began working on his wound with nothing more than a slight wince.

"Where are James and the others? They get away safely?"

Hot Rod hummed in confirmation, quieting considerably as he saw the sparkling flinch at the noise.

"Thanks to your advice they were able to escape with minimal injury; with what I was able to make out from Ruth's panicked rambling, she sustained a concussion and James' shoulder was grazed but other than that they were fine."

"Good;….can you still get in contact with them?"

"Of course."

"Tell them to head for Mission City; we'll catch up to them on the way and from there we'll to and find Morwenna and Sunstreaker."

Hot Rod hummed-softly-and initiated the uplink, conveying the message in as few words as possible in case Sector Seven was monitoring the frequency.

As they sped down the highway Hot Rod couldn't help but pray that this was almost over; worrying about himself was one thing—worrying about the fate of forty-four others was ten times as worse. He couldn't help but snort wryly.

Now he knew how Prime felt.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Morwenna huffed as she retrieved the sparkling micro-bot from where he had been hurriedly stuffed into one cup of her bra, Frenzy hissing irritably from his tenuous perch on her shoulder as she walked towards the Autobot. Glancing at the tunnel as the other humans started to arrive she turned her attention back towards Jazz, looking coolly up at the slender saboteur as she spoke.

"You know that it was a stupid idea to come in here right?"

She rolled her eyes when he grinned cheekily at her, slapping a talon away as he tried to poke her.

"An' miss the op'tunity ta show these Sector humans wha' they been missin,? Neva!"

Morwenna shook her head at his antics, looking at Simmons—shame; she rather liked it when he was passed out cold—as he stalked up to them.

"Who let _**HIM**_ in?"

"Awh; didn' ya tell them 'bout me 'Wen? I'm hurt."

"Oh shut up ya big mechling 'fore I sick the sparkling on ya."

Jazz seemed surprised at her statement, a brief scan washing over her before his sharp gaze zeroed in on the mircobot held in her hands as he slowly sank to his knees.

"Where did ya come from, little one?"

Morwenna wanted to smack herself in the face as Frenzy answered in a rather—gleeful manner, groaning as three large, silver talons embedded themselves into the concrete inches from Simmons feet. The pale man was shaking as his gaze slowly traveled up the digits to the blank faceplates that rested above them, the lack of expression terrifying the human more than any amount of anger ever could.

"Give meh **ONE** good reason as ta why I shouldn't kill ya righ' here an' **now** _**HUMAN**_."

"Um; how about the fact that if we don't get the Allspark out of here **NOW** Megatron will break free of the ice, kill us all and take over the universe?"

Jazz slid his gaze over to Sam, the boy flinching at the icy look on his visor before staring back resolutely, neither one willing to be backed down so easily. It was the soft whimpering of the sparkling that drew the saboteur out of his dark brooding, a low croon sounding deep inside his chest as he reached out towards it. He hummed as the tiny 'bot was placed on his servo, unlocking his chest plates enough to slip the mechling inside his carrying chamber before locking them again, looking to Morwenna for direction once he was finished.

Morwenna just shook her head before turning to Simmons, smirking at the nearly worshipful look he was giving Sam—just because the Allspark was a higher priority didn't mean that the saboteur wasn't still _pissed_ at him.

"Simmons!"

"_Wha—Who?_ What do _**you **_want?"

"Where is your weapons room?"

"Why do you want to know that?"

Morwenna shook her head, gesturing meaningfully towards the Army personnel that stood behind him as she spoke.

"Because while _**I**_ may be comfortable taking on the average mech with nothing more than a sharp tongue and biting personality, I know that having weapons that would prove effective against the average Cybertronian would go a long way towards improving the moral of Captain Lennox and his men."

Lennox shot a grateful look in her direction; he had been….._leery_ about asking about more effective weapons himself, but what she said was true; his men were a lot less likely to be trigger-happy—and potentially harm one of the Autobots—if they knew they could rely on their weapons when needed.

"What 'bout the Allspark? Is it near wherev'r they keep their ammoh?"

"My men and I can retrieve the weapons we need while you get your Cube; it's not like we aren't capable of taking care of ourselves.

Right boys?!"

"_HOO-RAH!" _

"Then allow me to take you to the Allspark while Simmons takes Lennox and his men to the weapons room. It will cut our time in half and take care of two things at once. Besides; getting him away from the—Cybertonians?—might be the only thing that keeps him alive right now."

Morwenna laughed in agreement as she followed Banachek down a large tunnel, Lennox and his men splitting off with Simmons in one direction as everyone followed Banachek and Jazz down the other.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"It's been so long."

Morwenna looked up at Jazz' faceplates from where she and Sam stood at the base of the Cube, a soft smile lighting her face as she noticed his look of reverence and awe.

"How many times were you able to get this close to it?"

"**This** close ta it? Neva; the closes' I got was the inner chambeh back in Simf'r once—an' that was a **long** time ago."

Morwenna made a noise of understanding as she turned to look at the Cube, yelping as a pulse of blue-white energy jumped out of the artifact and hit her dead in the chest, a smaller arch catching Frenzy on the side of the helm as he tried to scramble off her shoulder. The silver symbiote let out a blat of static as he was sent flying, instinctively tucking his frame into a ball and rolling across the concrete before lightly springing to his pedes, grumbling irritably as he brought a servo up to rub at his helm; only it never got there. Blue optics dimmed and brightened as he stared at the newly restored appendage, quickly checking over the rest of his frame to make sure that every bolt had been returned to its rightful place.

"Morwenna!"

Frenzy's helm shot up at the sound of the Autobot TIC's panicked voice, optics brightening at the sight of the human femme surrounded in a halo of the Allsparks energy.

What in the name of Primus was going on?

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

It was…._warm_.

That was the first thing she noticed in this stark world, her breaths echoing in the void around her.

**~You have done well human.~ **

That voice!

"Where are you?!"

A deep chuckle echoed throughout the endless white, Morwenna huffing in agitation as her eyes uselessly tried to find something to focus on.

**~Would you like something to speak to?~ **

"It does feel a bit silly talking to myself yes."

It chuckled again.

**~You did not seem to have this trouble the first time we conversed.~ **

"Yea, well; I was more concerned about the sparklings at the time than whether or not I sounded crazy for talking inta thin air. However ta be able to say that I talked ta _SOMETHING_ this time would be nice."

Another chuckle sounded and Morwenna frowned; she swore that whatever she was talking to found her exasperation amusing. A gentle tap on her shoulder had her whirling around to face the unknown assailant, mouth hanging open as her mind registered what she was seeing.

A tall, broad shouldered frame—taller than any other she had seen before—loomed over her, the metal it was made of seeming to twist and shift with every intake of air. White orbs that glowed with an inner fire served as the beings optics, various glyphs of the ancient language winding their way up and down the beings torso and legs. At the center of the torso—where the largest glyph lay—the glyphs split to wind across the shoulders and down powerful arms, the left steadily changing into modern Autobot and blue light while the right arm did the opposite, both ending in taloned servos that hung loosely at its side.

Morwenna circled the being slowly as she took in its appearance, mind slowly piecing together its identity from the markings that littered its frame.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you the _Allspark_?"

The being smiled as it nodded its helm, the timbre of its voice shifting, changing into something decidedly male to her ears as he spoke.

**~Will this suit your need to speak with something tangible?~ **

Morwenna nodded her head.

"Yes; perfectly.

Now for the _real_ question; _**why **_are you talking to _me_—here, _now _when there is so much we have to do and not _nearly _enough time to do it?"

**~I want you to tell me what will transpire over the course of the next several joors; I have tried looking into that facet of time for myself, but there is a mist that falls over my vision once the boy gains possession of the vessel I currently reside in.~ **

"So you really _**aren't **_apart of the Cube; I mean—you'll still continue to exist even after it's destroyed, right?"

There was absolute silence from the being in front of her, green eyes widening comically before she smacked herself in the face with a loud groan as she realized her mistake.

'_Smooth 'Wen; __real __smooth.' _

**~My vessel is to be destroyed then?~ **

"Yes."

**~How does this, this ****travesty**** come to pass?~ **

Morwenna sighed, making sure to lock those white orbs in the stern gaze of her own eyes as she spoke.

"You must understand; launching the Cube from Tyger Pax was the _ABSOLUTE_ last ditch effort to keep it in tact and out of Megatrons claws—an effort that doomed Cybertron to a slow and painful death. Optimus _**WILL NOT**_ allow that same fate to befall Earth; tough he also knows that destroying the Cube is the only surefire way to end a war that has gone on far too long.

The military humans that are with us now will come up with a plan to air lift the Cube out of Mission City, where it is given to the boy—Sam—by Bumblebee to take to the roof of a building where the extraction is to occur. Only Megatron intercepts him first, chasing him to the roof of the building where he knocks him off, Optimus barely saving him from being killed in the fall.

In the ensuing battle between Prime and former High Lord Megatron gains the upper hand, only the intervention of human flying drones keeping the Prime from ending at his servo. Yelling at Sam to put the Cube into his chest to deny Megatron the ability of using it for his twisted means the boy makes a decision that saves the Prime; he shoves it in Megatrons chest instead, killing him and destroying the Cube in the resulting flux of energy."

**~So…..My vessels destruction was ****intentionally**** arranged?~ **

"Intentionally arranged so that its power couldn't be used for evil—for the eventual enslavement of the entire known universe. It was done so that no more _innocent_ lives would be lost in the face of Megatrons madness."

**~Then what hope is there for the children of Primus—MY children—if my one means of communication, of ****interaction**** with them is doomed to destruction?~ **

Morwenna couldn't help but sympathize with the Allspark as his shoulders seemed to slump slightly, mind working furiously to try and come up with a solution that would make him—_happy_.

"Can you transfer vessels?"

**~Pardon?~ **

"If we found you another vessel—one that Megatron wouldn't recognize—would you be able to move from the Cube to that?"

**~And what manner of vessel would you have in mind? Megatron has corrupted the Cube almost beyond recognition and any other inanimate object would be subject to the same fate; and I would not ask a child of Primus to bear the burden of being my vessel.~ **

"…What about a human? A _**WILLING**_ human?"

White orbs brightened in surprise.

**~You would offer yourself—****freely****?~ **

"I would."

**~With nothing in return?~ **

"All I ask is that I am changed into a Cybertronian—with all of my _human_ memories—when my human body dies; after all, having a vessel that barely lasts a vorn wouldn't be that useful, would it?"

**~…There is something else; isn't there?~ **

Morwenna rubbed the back of her neck nervously; she was hoping that he hadn't been able to pick up on that.

"It's nothing; I—I wouldn't want to take away anyone's choice like that."

**~Say it never the less.~ **

She steeled herself, convinced that she would be rejected or worse with what she was about to say.

"….I—I would like….a—a sparkmate."

**~You would have someone who is forced to love you just because you wished it?~ **

"No! Just—….."

**~Just what?~ **

"….Just someone who I knew would never leave me."

Morwenna flinched as he knelt so that his faceplates were level with her head, white orbs scouring every inch over her body as she was looked over; she had the distinct feeling that he was looking at her soul as well.

**~Tell me; what would you do with my power if I were to accept your offer?~ **

She didn't hesitate.

"End the war; for the sparklings, so that they are not forced to grow up in the middle of all this blood-shed. I would also end it so that the children of Primus do not fall into extinction."

**~Some would consider that an impossibility.~ **

She grinned wryly.

"As I have _recently _found out _**nothing **_is impossible; merely improbable."

The Allspark nodded its head as its glyphs began to glow even brighter than they did before, drawing back one of his taloned servos as his orbs locked with hers.

**~Your offer is accepted.~ **

The last thing Morwenna saw was his servo rushing towards her before everything went black.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"Morwenna!"

Morwenna jerked her head back as the tendril of energy cut off from the cube, yelping as she was unceremoniously dropped to the ground. Groaning from having all the air forcefully expelled from her body she rolled over onto her back, waving dazedly at Jazz as he knelt over her.

"What's up?"

Jazz cocked an optical strut in confusion.

"Ya get hit with a blast ah Allspark energy and ya ask meh what's up? Ya sure ya alrigh'?"

Morwenna nodded her head as she rose to her feet, one hand coming up to clutch the side of her head as she swayed uncertainly, shooting a grateful look at Sam as he grabbed a shoulder to steady her.

"I'm fine; a bit disoriented from the sudden plane shifting but otherwise fine."

"Plane shiftin'?"

She shot a wry look up at the saboteur.

"Surely you don't think that I got zapped for the hell of it do you?"

"Ya mean it actually _TALKED_ ta ya?"

She shrugged.

"It's talked to me before; granted I didn't know that it **WAS** the Allspark until now, but I recognized the voice it used to communicate with me.

Now come on; I know how to shrink the Cube so that it's easier to transport. "

Gently extracting her shoulder from Sam's grasp she took a few steps towards the Cube, looking back in confusion as no one moved to follow her—only to come face to face with the absolutely gobsmacked expression everyone was sending her way.

"What!?"

"You just found out that an alien source of power has spoken to you—_TWICE_—and you're not even the least bit concerned?"

Morwenna laughed; she had forgotten how—new to this whole experience everyone else was.

"I'm from a dimension where **none** of you _exist_ and the world of Transformers is just another form of entertainment. Compared to that having the Allspark talking to me is like a friend you always _thought_ was mute suddenly talking to you out of the blue; surprising-yes: life changing event-no.

Now; I need some help getting up to the corner of the Cube. Jazz; ya mind helping me?"

Jazz just stared at her for a second before he grinned and shook his helm, lowering a servo so that she could hop on before raising it so that she was level with the corner of the Cube.

"Ya are a strange human, ya know tha' 'Wen?"

She grinned back down at him.

"I could say the same thing about you. Well, ya know, except for the whole _'human' _thing."

Jazz' servo vibrated as he chuckled and Morwenna turned her attention back to the Cube, pressing two near-invisible glyphs on either side of the corner before she yelped as she was shocked, shaking her hands furiously to try and rid them of the residual tingling feeling. The gasps around her had her refocusing on the Cube, a smile on her face as she watched it fold down in on itself.

Jumping off Jazz' servo as he lowered her to the ground she grabbed the Cube before walking over to Sam, pressing it into the startled boys hands as she waved at everyone to back to the entrance.

"Bu—I thought-"

"This is YOUR story Sam, not mine. Whatever I do now I do in an effort to save as many Cybertronian lives as possible—both 'Con and 'Bot.

The fate of the Allspark—and Earth—are up to you now."

He nodded shakily, moving to follow the others when Morwenna yanked him back.

"Know that no matter what you decide, you will not disappoint anyone—least of all me.

Now; we've got a bunch of metallic butts and a planet ta save. Comon'!"

Punching him on the shoulder Morwenna scooped up Frenzy and dashed ahead, Sam looking thoughtfully at the Cube before tucking it under one arm and running to catch up to the others, waving at Lennox as he and his men came out of the opposite tunnel in armored vehicles, everyone stopping at the intersection as they regrouped.

"You guys get the Cube?"

Sam raised said item above his head.

"It's right here.

So...what do we do now?"

'Wen snorted.

"It would be stupid to stay here whatever we do."

Lennox nodded.

"She's right; we stay here and we're screwed with Megatron in the other hangar. Mission City is 22 miles away; we're gonna sneek that Cube outta here and hide it somewhere inside the city."

Keller got an intense, hopeful look on his face.

"Good; right!"

"But we cannot make a stand without the Airforce."

Keller turned his attention to Simmons, gesturing to the network of tunnels behind him as he spoke.

"This place must have some kind of radio link; short wave, CB!"

"Sir you've gotta figure out _some way_ to get word out to 'em."

Simmons snapped his fingers.

"Let's move!"

"In the Alien Archives Room. There's an old Army _radio console_."

"Will it work?!"

Simmons gestured wildly.

"Well I dunno-anything's possible-did you see that thing it just_*ffft*_!"

Morwenna shook her head as she followed Lennox and his group, calling out to Glen and Maggie as they turned back.

"Don't you guys wanna see the action?!"

"I've seen quite enough thank you! Besides; they might need help trying to get the hunk of junk working again!"

She shrugged.

"Your loss; see ya!"

"Alright; Sam, get in the car! Mr. Secretary get our birds in the air; when we get to the city we're gonna find a radio-X vector Romeo okay?"

Morwenna, Sam and Frenzy piled into Jazz as he transformed, his tires squealing against the concrete as he shot out of the hangar, Lennox and his men not far behind. Wedging the Cube next to his feet Sam buckled himself in as Frenzy was forced to sit in 'Wen's lap to keep from sliding around, gripping the edge of the seat as they shot out onto the top of the Dam amid multiple warnings of containment failure. They had just cleared the top of the mountain that framed the dam when a low-flying F-22 passed overhead, Morwenna smiling grimly as Sam whipped his head back to watch it disappear behind the mountain.

"_THAT_ would be Starscream."

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Someone was accessing the Cube, he could _feel_ it.

A second passed before a heavy pulse of energy passed through the walls of the organic structure that kept him prisoner, intangible to all the disgusting squishies that skittered across the ground in front of him.

_Pathetic_.

"Warning; NBE 1—Cryo containment failing."

Warnings and self-diagnostics popped up in the edge of his vision, promptly informing the frozen giant that he was slowly regaining mobility.

'_FINALLY!' _

Forcefully moving his joints in sharp, jerking movements the silver giant began to shake the oppressive liquid off, mentally crowing in vindictive glee as the little flesh-bugs started running around in a panic.

'_That's right insects; be afraid.' _

Suddenly his neck struts slogged off the rest of the liquid, intakes hitching and optics surging on to full power as he was able to truly _see_ since his imprisonment in the ice all those vorns ago. Twisting wildly to get the rest of his frame free he looked around at the petrified fleshlings, denta baring in a fierce grin as he realized that he would be able to carry his personal promise out.

**Death** to _all_ fleshlings.

"I am—**MEGATRON**."

Transforming his right servo into a mace he started destroying the device that had kept him imprisoned for so many vorns, a sense of _rightness_ filling him as he heard the screams of terror and witnessed the destruction caused by **HIS** servo and his alone.

He sneered in contempt as the squishies tried to recapture him with super-cooled bursts of liquid.

'_They are glitched if they think that their liquid will imprison me again.' _

Transforming for the first time since his capture the Warlord shot out into the primitive worlds outside atmosphere, catching sight of his traitorous second before landing in the basin below the Dam, Starscream landing on a building just above him.

"I live to serve you Lord Megatron."

He didn't have time to listen to the words of a sniveling coward.

"Where is the Cube?"

The jet hesitated for an astrosecond; Megatron reminded himself to '_reprimand'_ him later.

"The humans have taken it."

Megatron fought against letting loose a fit of rage; he _**MUST**_ obtain the Cube!

"You fail me yet again Starscream; **GET THEM!**"

Starscream couldn't quite hide his sneer of disgust before he took off, but no matter; once he obtained the Cube _**NOTHING**_ would be able to stand in his way.

Not even Prime.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Barricade sneered at Starscream as the jet relayed Megatrons new orders over the comm. link, frame jerking in shock as a requestor ping sounded over his comm.—from Frenzy.

**:I thought you were offlined.: **

**:W-W-WRONG!: **

Barricade would have flickered his optics if he were still in biped mode; it was times like this that he thanked Primus for putting the silver symbiotes twin on the other side of the _universe_.

**:Where are you? Might as well pick you up on the way to obtaining the Allspark.: **

There was silence on the other end of the line and the disguised 'Con immediately tensed; Frenzy never shut up unless it was something _**bad**_.

**:….What did you do **_**NOW**_**?: **

**:…U-uhhh…..I'm-m already-y with the-e Allspark-k.: **

Frenzy winced from where he was perched on Morwenna's lap, waving off her questioning noise as the silence on his comm. dragged on; Barricade was _pissed_.

**:**_**WHAT?!**_** YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU'VE….. **_**ALIGNED**_** YOUSELF WITH THE **_**FLESHLINGS**_**!: **

**:It's n-not like that-t!: **

**:Oh really? Go on then; ****EXPLAIN****.: **

Frenzy twitched nervously; how in the **PIT** was he going to explain what happened? Frag; even _he_ still didn't understand everything that happened and he was the one doing it!

"There's Optimus!"

The small 'Con watched as the human mech riding with them needlessly pointed out the large Prime, an idea slowly forming inside his processor as he watched the Autobots fall in line behind their TIC.

"Uh; 'W-Wen?"

The brunette femme tilted her head so that she was looking down at him, rolling her eyes as Jazz started playing "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys, laughing as Sam desperately tried to get him to change the song.

"What is it Frenzy?"

"C-can you ex-explain?"

She frowned.

"Explain what to whom?"

Wordlessly he handed her a modified audial device that was linked to his comm. system before finally answering Barricades increasingly incessant pings.

**: ****FINALLY!**** Are you going to explain or dither around like one of those pathetically conflicted Autobots?: **

Morwenna couldn't help but smirk.

**:One of those **_**'pathetically conflicted Autobots'**_**—as you so nicely put it—handed your aft to you earlier if I recall.: **

**:….Who the ****FRAG**** is this?: **

**:Morwenna Morrigan at your service; yes I'm a human and ****no****, I didn't harm, threaten or lie to Frenzy to get him to listen to me. **

**We don't have a lot of time so I'm only going to say this once; in a couple of minutes you are going to see Prime, Jazz, 'Bee, Ironhide and Ratchet surrounded by a small human convoy on the highway headed for Mission City. Unless you want to be cut off PERMANENTLY from the sparklings under my care you WILL NOT **_**ENGAGE**_**; understood?: **

**:….What?: **

**:*sigh* Look; I have approximately forty sparklings that I've looked after for the past MONTH that I would really appreciate some more help with—I KNOW what has gone on in your war since the first battle at KAON and what will happen in the next couple of hours and I'm telling you right now that unless you WANT to be hunted down by a bunch of fleshy bugs—and yes we CAN take one of you 'Cons down with a little planning—you need to listen to me so that you have a chance of making back to Cybertron ALIVE. **

**I don't care ****what**** you want to do as long as you STOP FIGHTING.: **

Barricade tried to process everything that the fleshy had told him as he accessed the highway, engine revving in disbelief as he detected Autobot signatures dead ahead.

**:Why should I betray my faction based on your words alone?: **

Morwenna smirked.

**:Because I have proof.: **

"Jazz; where is the sparkling?"

Morwenna could _FEEL_ the saboteur tense up beneath her as they raced towards the city, the faint, wailing sound of police sirens reaching her ears. They were almost out of time.

"'Wenna, I don't think that's such a good idea."

"I know what I'm doing Jazz."

"But; exposin' the sparklin's ta the 'Cons—!"

"Jazz! Trust me."

There was a tense moment of silence as they sped down the highway, a reluctant grunt sounding through the Solstice's speakers before a section of the dashboard slid away, the tiny helm of the sparkling popping up a moment later.

"Thank you."

Gently scooping up the tiny 'bot she brought it up to the audial device, softly cooing and stroking as it chirped and clicked back at her, tiny faceplates lighting up as it heard answering clicks coming from the upheld comm. Rubbing her thumb against the tiny helm she brought up next to her heart as she brought the device back up to her ear, praying to Primus that this would work as she caught sight of Bonecrusher in Jazz's rearview mirror.

"Believe me now?"

**:….For now. I won't engage the Autobots; in return I expect to be shown ALL of the sparklings by the end of your earth day or else I start popping squishies—starting with ****you****. Do I make myself clear?: **

**:Perfectly.: **

Barricade cut off the transmission at that, his energy signature veering sharply off to the left as he took off into the suburbs surrounding the city.

"Well; that's one less 'Con to worry about. Do you think Bonecrusher will listen as easily?"

Frenzy shook his helm.

"'C-crusher is c-crazy; entire gest-alt t-too sadis-tic for sparkling-ngs."

Morwenna nodded, wincing slightly as her heart gave an uncharacteristically harsh throb when Optimus transformed, twisting around to intercept the large 'Con before he could catch up with the rest of the Autobots as their combined momentum dragged them off the raised overpass and onto one below.

'_We can't save everyone, no matter how much we may want to.' _

The Allspark brightened slightly in response, its voice mournful from its place in the back of her head.

**~They are **_**still**_**my**** children.~ **

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Next time on IofC: The battle is almost upon us folks! Jazz's fate is decided, the battle for the Cube rages on, and even more mechlings are thrown into the mix!

'Till next time meh mechlin's!


	11. Convergance

Fea: Alrighty—new chapter people! The end of the battle is finally here! Just as a reminder: **I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS. **

Now; people to thank:

Pheonyx Starr: I hated him when that happened too, don't worry. But you're gonna hafta read to see how that's averted.

Cool: Thank you!

XxShadowfangxX: Read to find out about our favorite saboteur and as for Morwenna…well—that's what speculation is for isn't it? Makes ya read ta find out!

Flamingfoxviper: Danke!

Shades-Soul: Lol—I feel the same. Guess you'll just have to read and find out.

Angel897: Kind of; I had duty New Years Eve but I got home just in time to watch the ball drop so that was nice. Hope you like this chapter too!

Guest: Here ya go!

LGTracy: I'm glad you like IofC; as for the seekers, generally they'll be the former, but with a few twists thrown in just ta keep ya'll on your toes. As for Soundwave….well—what would be the fun in just telling?

Gemava: I accept your love on behalf of the sparklings and Ja—(Jazz): THANK YA GEMAVA! (Fea): _*face palms*_ Primus.

2nd guest: Idk who you are but thanks for the review. As I said to LGTracy—what would be the fun in just telling?

Sapphire-Serenity-Phoinex: Lol thank you!

Kyuubi lover 98: Soon enough?

Xireana Zetsubou: Thanks! Hope you enjoy this chappy too!

3rd Guest: Umm….WTF dude?

Anyway; I also want to thank all of the subscribers and favoriters who also follow IofC.

Now; onto the story!

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Morwenna paced impatiently next to Jazz as the tension of the upcoming battle started to get to her, shooting glares at anyone who came too close to her and the rather _odd_ convoy of vehicles that lined the curb on either side of the small pawn shop—she didn't want _them_ to see Frenzy. Said symbiote was sitting quite comfortably in the passenger seat of said saboteur, his mandibles spreading in a faint grin as he played with the tiny sparkling held in his lap.

Jazz, on the other hand, was bored out of his processor. Who knew that finding such primitive communication devices—in a place where said things apparently go to die—would take so fraggin' _long_? What; did they not like the model of the device or what? Venting heavily—ignoring Morwenna's glare for drawing attention to himself—he wracked his processor for something to entertain himself with, mentally raising an optic ridge as he noticed the soft look on Frenzy's faceplates as he gently _nuzzled_ the tiny sparkling.

If he had been in bipede mode his grin would've sent _chills_ down 'Wen's spine.

"So _Frenzy_; what ya gonna name the little bitlet?"

Frenzy hummed distractedly as he watched the tiny mechling bend his digits curiously; what _WOULD_ he name it?

**Then** the question completely registered in his processor, sky blue optics widening comically in his shock.

"_M-ME?!_ W-why would **I-I **name i-it?"

Jazz struggled to contain his sniggers from bursting into full-blown laughter at the lost look on the symbiotes faceplates, his alt mode shaking in restrained mirth. Wordlessly he opened his driver's side door as Lennox came rushing out of the shop with his prize held aloft,—Dear _Primus_; he wasn't sure that they had had such _primitive_ things even when _**CYBERTRON**_ was a new planet—ordering the humans around him to man up—weren't they already men?—before jumping into his own drone and pulling to the front.

"_So~; _what was all the shaking about?"

Jazz snorted but didn't answer; smirking at the look on Frenzy's faceplates as he turned confused optics onto the red haired femme.

"'W-Wen?"

Morwenna raised an eyebrow; what's up with him?

"Yes Frenzy?"

"J-Jazz s-said that-t I nee-eded to n-name the spark-ling…I-is that t-true?"

Morwenna frowned before she smacked the steering wheel in front of her at the poorly hidden sniggers coming out of the speakers, smiling in satisfaction at the saboteurs yelp of pain before she turned her attention to the silver symbiote.

"Do you want to?"

Frenzy shifted nervously, re-arranging the sparkling in his arms as it whimpered at the uneasy feelings it was getting from his field, gently humming to try and soothe it.

"S-should I?"

She shrugged.

"_Well~;_ the Allspark **DID** use your spark signature and optic color when it was forced to create him because you were the nearest Cybertronian…_*shrug*_…..In the end it's up to you."

"B-u—."

Morwenna had to brace herself against Jazz's dash as he suddenly hit the brakes, looking around in confusion for what they could've possibly stopped for—just as Starscream roared past in the sky above them.

"I am SUCH an **IDIOT**!"

Throwing open Jazz's door she dashed to try and stop the solider from marking their position with the grenade, yelping as she was swept up into a pair of powerful arms. Struggling to try and free herself she managed to catch Lennox's eye, leveling a fierce glare in his direction as she tried to get free.

"_DO NOT POP SMOKE!_ Don't you **DARE** pop smoke William Lennox!"

Lennox actually hesitated for a brief second before he gave the order; she **had** been right before, but….he nodded his head sharply, giving the go ahead as Epps tried to make radio contact.

"Raptor, raptor do you copy?"

Morwenna threw her hands up in exasperation.

"_**MEN!" **_

"What? We needed to mark our position so that the Airforce—."

Morwenna rounded on him with the fiery temper so many Irish were infamous for, practically shoving her index finger up his nose as she hissed at him.

"Do you have _**ANY**_ idea as to what you just did?! That—**PLANE** isn't one of ours! It's—!"

"_**IT'S STARSCREAM!" **_

Morwenna cursed _loudly_ as Ironhide finished transforming, waving the rest of the Autobots back as she dove for cover in a nearby alleyway. Helplessly she watched as Bumblebee transformed before setting Sam and Michaela down next to Lennox for safety, rushing to help the gruff weapons specialist lift an abandoned delivery truck as a makeshift barrier _moments_ before two explosions rocked the street beneath their feet, the second one tossing the two Autobots back like rag dolls from the force of the blast. Her hands curled into fists as Bumblebee's cry of pain echoed in the post-explosion silence and she had to _force_ herself from stopping to help him as she ran back to Jazz's alt mode, waiting impatiently for him to open his door before she was _dragging_ Frenzy towards the alleyway, pointing down the street to where an Abrams Tanks had just rounded a building when he resisted.

"Demolisher's coming."

Immediately his grip tightened on the sparkling that was staring around with wide, frightened optics as it dug tiny digits into the seams of his chassis armor, wrenching his shoulder out of her grasp before heading towards the alleyway himself; he wasn't going to allow **anyone** to get their hands on _his_ sparkling.

A motor round hit the street a few feet to their left, showering them in bits of asphalt as Morwenna flipped the tank off.

"Damnit; _**MOVE**_!"

Morwenna and Frenzy dashed for the safety of the narrow passage as the undamaged Autobots transformed to take on the tank-former, the distinctive _'whoop-whoop'_ of a cop car drawing their attention to the opposite end of the alleyway where a very _familiar_ Decepticon was waiting for them.

Morwenna glanced down at Frenzy.

"Want to go see what he wants?"

He shrugged.

"N-not l-like we h-ave much c-choice."

"Well then; shall we?"

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Mirage checked his chronometer from his position,—a roof opposite the spire that the human femme had said Megatron would bring Jazz to in order to finish him off—denta clenching in _frustration_ as he saw a flash of gold on the roof directly across from it.

**:Get your **_**aft**_**back**** into position Sunstreaker! I can ****see**** you!: **

**:Frag off 'Raj! I'm slaggin' bored!: **

An uncharacteristic growl—well, uncharacteristic since the _'incident'_—from Hot Rod had both saboteurs silencing themselves, though Mirage could practically _feel_ the sharp comment that Sunstreaker wanted to make.

**:Would the both of you ****SHUT UP****! This is supposed to be a rescue mission here, not a lets-give-away-our-position-to-the-enemy operation! Act like the mechs you are instead of a bunch of sparklings!: **

Sunstreaker growled over the comm., using a very _recognizable_ human gesture as he disappeared behind a raised point on the roof.

**:Fine.: **

The red noble rolled his optics as he made a noise of agreement; and mechs wondered _**why**_ he thought that the golden frontliner/saboteur—and he _still_ couldn't believe that Jazz thought that was a good idea—was a giant pain in the aft.

The sound of interstellar grade engines had Mirage double-checking his power reserves as Megatron came tearing around the corner of a building with said Autobot in tow, throwing the smaller silver 'bot on top of the spire before transforming and landing on him with a contemptuous sneer. Jazz glared right back.

"That all ya got Megatron?"

Megatron grabbed him by a pede to swing him around, dismissing the faint blip at the edge of his sensors as Mirage brought his rifle to bear.

"Come here little creation."

Sighting his target Mirage tracked its jerky movement, waiting for just the _right…moment… _

_**There! **_

Taking out the Warlords right servo before it could grab Jazz and rip him apart Mirage immediately jumped off the building he had been standing on, smirking at Megatrons cry of rage as Sunstreaker initiated his part of the plan, shearing off the servo that held Jazz even as he tucked the slender saboteur under one arm, laughing wildly and shooting at Megatron as they fell. Dashing out of his hiding spot Hot Rod kept the Warlords attention off them as they made impact with the ground below, Mirage running up to them and hauling them to their pedes before pulling them back in the direction of the others.

"Wha—….Howd'ya know?"

Sunstreaker laughed; he would have thought that it was obvious by now.

"Who do **you** think?"

Jazz's visor brightened in realization before a wide grin split his faceplates, whipping a pistol out of subspace and shooting a wry look back at the frontliner before he joined in the fray.

"She really _**does**_ know alot for ah human, doesn't she?"

Sunstreaker smiled fiercely.

"Yes; yes she does."

Dodging a blast from Megatrons cannon—it was amazing how the Warlord could still fight with **both** of his servos missing—Jazz aimed for an exposed support strut, grunting as Megatron plowed into him like a freight train and slammed his frame into the ground, grimacing in pain as the Warlord slowly applied pressure to the pede on his chassis. Megatron ignored the strafing fire from the desperate Autobots behind him; the traitor would **pay**.

"Well, well; it seems like you won't get saved after all little **Autobot**.

Now _die_."

A flash of blue and red sailed across Jazz's vision as Megatron was yanked off of him, the two massive bots landing in a pile of multi-colored plating a short distance away. With a cry of rage Megatron threw Jazz's savior off of him in one massive heave, snarling as he was able to get to his pedes and look at his assailant.

"_**PRIME!" **_

Blue optics narrowed over a closed battle mask as Optimus slid into position, his voice full of rarely heard venom as he looked at the silver mech.

"_Megatron." _

With that the fight between the two titans began in earnest, Sunstreaker grabbing Jazz's shoulder strut as he made to join into the fray.

"_Oh_ no you don't; Morwenna will have my _**AFT**_ if I don't make sure that you stay _ALIVE_ after our little rescue and the sparklings need our help. Besides; Prime can take care of himself."

Jazz hesitated as he watched the two faction leaders giving it their all as they fought against each other before he transformed, following the others as they led him away from the city.

'_Let's hope you're right Sunstreaker; let's hope you're right.'_

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"_So~;_ what do you want to talk about?"

Barricade said nothing as he moved deeper into the heart of downtown, parking in the alleyway of a local movie theater—just out of sight from the main road—and locking his doors before he decided to speak.

"What do you want with us human?"

Morwenna raised an eyebrow in question; what?

"I'm not sure what you mean—."

Barricades engine revved in anger, only backing off when it became apparent that it was scaring the tiny sparkling held in Frenzy's arms.

"_DON'T PLAY WITH ME __**HUMAN**__!_ You may have convinced every other Cybertronian that you've come in contact with that your only focus is on the safety of the sparklings but it will take **MUCH** more than that to convince me to trust a puny fleshbag like _you_.

Now _TALK_; what are your **REAL** reasons for wanting to help us?"

Morwenna had sat ram-rod straight throughout Barricades little tirade, taking even, measured breaths at the end of it to clear her head before she spoke, the tightness of her voice betraying the anger that lay just beneath the surface of her calm façade.

"Understand _**this**_ Barricade; the sparklings _ARE_ my **MAIN** reason for wanting to end this war. Are they the only reason? **No**; I won't pretended like I'm not fascinated by your culture, your history—I would _love_ to be able to return to Cybertron with you someday and see its former glory restored for myself; Simfur, the Crystal Gardens, the Artists District, the Academy, Crystal City, _Vox_, Praxus and so much more that was either lost or destroyed as the war slowly consumed Cybertron.

I want to know what it's like to know without a **doubt** that your god—the creator of your entire _race_—actually _exists_ instead of wondering if you were created for a purpose or just the lucky result of some cosmic accident.

I want to know what having a _BOND_ feels like; familial, brotherhood, gestalt, trine-mates, bondmates—it doesn't matter as long as I get to _experience_ one.

All these and more are reasons enough to involve myself with your race; but I KNOW for a **FACT** that the main reason that I'm here, that I was transported from my own dimension, was to save those sparklings and give them a shot at a life _FREE_ of the war—and I will do _EVERYTHING_ within my knowledge and power to achieve it.

Now; you are either with me—or against me.

Which will it be?"

The Decepticon scout was silent for a time as he processed what she had said, the occasional chirps of the sparkling the only thing to break the silence. Morwenna grimaced at the explosions and gunshots she could hear in the distance, eyes widening as a loud concussion of sound seemed to rock the very ground beneath the Decepticons tires moments before a worryingly _familiar_ helm flashed over the top of a low building.

"Give me the Cube _boy_!"

Barricade froze as he heard the voice of the Decepticon Lord, every one of them exceptionally quiet as Sam darted across their vision, slamming chest first into a Cadillac SUV that had barely managed to avoid hitting him. Grunting as he hit the ground Sam didn't notice the shockwave of energy that shot out of the Cube before he was scrambling to get away from Megatron, unaware that they were being watched as they rapidly disappeared out of sight. Morwenna let out a breath that she didn't know that she had been holding; that was a little too close.

Then she realized something.

"_SHIT!_ Let me out **NOW**!"

Tearing at the cop cars locking mechanism she got him to unlock the door, shooting out of his alt mode and towards the SUV almost directly across from them, dodging the soda cans shot at her by a now transformed vending machine. Barricade quickly made a decision; while he might not trust the human in front of him, he knew that it was the only way to save the sparklings—and himself.

"Frenzy; _get out_."

Hurriedly the symbiote complied with Barricades demand, pressing himself against the side of the building as he watched 'Cade transform and approach the frightened green sparkling, holding his servos up in placation as it swung its cannon bearing arm to train it on the scout. Crooning softly he slowly edged closer, brushing pulses of _safety_ and _protection_ against the little ones field once he was close enough, closing his arms around it as it gave a plaintive chirp before rushing into his arms, burrowing its faceplates into his neck cables as he lifted it up.

Barricades' attention snapped downward as something attached itself to his right pede, staring in bewilderment at the tiny white sparkling that was holding onto his appendage like he would disappear at any second. Shifting the larger sparkling onto one hip strut he carefully crouched down, offering his free servo to the white—_femmeling!_ to climb up on, engine rumbling softly as she got on after a moment's hesitation, bringing her close to his spark in order to calm her.

"You can't do this! It's _**MY**_ car!"

Barricade looked over to where the brunette human was arguing heatedly with a darker haired femme, noting that the sparkling currently in her arms looked vaguely like an Ohm-spider; only difference was that it was a LOT bigger.

"Look; just get your friends out of the car and _go away_; unless you want my friend over there to crush you into a paste that is."

The dark-haired femme looked over to where 'Wen was pointing, skin paling dramatically as she finally noticed the sharply angled Decepticon, ignoring the fact that he looked _almost_ adorable with the two sparklings in his arms.

"T-Tracy, Casey; l-let's go."

"But—what about your car Lacy?"

Lacy rounded on the blonde who had spoken—Casey?—, her absolute terror making her dark eyes fever bright.

"You _wanna_ get crushed?! Let's **go**!"

Slowly Casey nodded, hesitantly stepping out of the car and following Lacy and Tracy as they ran down the road and away from the gathered 'Cons, looking back over her shoulder every once and a while until all three were out of sight. Immediately Morwenna changed her attitude to something soothing and reassuring as she gently patted the hood of the SUV, smiling gently as it shuddered before rolling back a few feet at her touch.

"It's alright little one; I won't hurt you."

There was a klik of silence before the Ohm-spider started squirming in her arms, dropping to the pavement as she let go and scuttling over to the SUV, disappearing briefly inside before jumping out again, holding two—he believed that the humans called them cell phones—in spindly appendages as it scuttled back over to the human, placing them in open hands before backing up a foot or two as it looked at them expectantly. Slowly the two phones transformed into a root mode that looked something like a miniaturized Laserbeak, large purple optics taking in their surroundings before stretching black and pink wings, nuzzling up to the femmes chest and promptly falling into recharge once they were done.

Only then did the SUV start to transform, the largest sparkling that Barricade had ever _seen_ outside the Shuttle Districts looking between him and Morwenna uncertainly before slowly edging it's way over to him, chirruping softly as he gave the small white sparkling to the green one to hold so that he would have a free servo for it to grasp.

"Now what?"

Morwenna looked up from where she was watching the Ohm-spider crawl up her clothing to rest on her shoulder, carefully transferring the two recharging cyber-birds onto one hand before pointing in the direction of a fairly tall building that had statues lining all four sides of its roof, smiling at the excited trills of the mircobot in Frenzys arms as he came over.

"We head towards that building; it's where most of the Autobots are gathered—or going to **BE** gathered—and where I told Tom and the others to bring the sparklings.

They _should_ be here soon~…

By the way; is there any hope of _Blackout_ being swayed to our side?"

Barricade thought about it as he readjusted the green sparkling in his arms, an optic strut arching as he looked down at the femme.

"Are you _kidding_; he's a bigger pushover about sparklings than **I** am."

She grinned.

"Perfect."

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Blackout struggled to contain his rage as he watched Megatron chase after the fleshling and the Cube, heedless of the deaths of his men. This was _**NOT**_ the Megatron he remembered, and he was seriously thinking about defecting as he watched his Lord burst through the top of a human building where he had cornered the boy, '_neglecting'_ to inform him of the rapidly approaching Prime.

He snorted to himself; even if he **DID** defect, where would he go? It wasn't like the _Autobots_ would accept him…..and he wasn't sure that he could stand being surrounded by a _'bunch of pansies'_—as the humans put it—anyways. Resigning himself to an inevitable fate he touched down on the street just behind the battling Prime and Megatron, activating his rotary blades as he slowly walked towards the battling titans.

**:****Blackout****!: **

He paused, looking at the road and buildings behind him in momentary confusion; he could have sworn he heard Barricade.

**:Answer me you fraggin' aft-helmed **_**whirly-bird**_**!: **

Yup; definitely Barricade.

**:What do ****YOU**** want?: **

**:I have something here that you REALLY need to see.: **

Blackout snorted as he resumed his course; like he was going to fall for THAT again.

**:Nice try 'Cade; last time that happened ****I**** ended up with a face full of Martian ice. Now if you'll excuse me—: **

**:FINE! I promise not to throw anything at you ****this time****! Now will you come?: **

Blackout paused as he thought about it, smiling slightly as he noticed some armed fleshies trying to sneak up behind him.

**:I'll be there in half a breem.: **

Launching himself into the air Blackout transformed back into his alt mode, flying the surprisingly short distance towards Barricades energy signature, shock rippling across his sensor net as he saw what was standing next to the scout and resting in his arms.

'_What in the name of Primus?' _

Transforming a short distance away from the rather _odd_ group he started walking towards the black and white scout, freezing as the black sparkling standing next to him whined before trying to hide against his leg. A low crooning came from deep inside the rotaries vocalizer as he knelt down, stretching out his servos imploringly towards the little one that hid against Barricades leg, smiling as it peaked at him with one large ruby optic. Looking up at Barricade for reassurance the sparkling started to hesitantly make its way towards him, perking up as _protection_ and _safe_ washed over him in waves once he was close enough to feel the helicopters energy field.

Chirping in relief the sparkling made its way over to the rotary, snuggling itself into his chassis as he straightened with it in his arms. Blackout studied each of the other sparklings avidly from their various perches, optical ridge rising at the ease the two microbots and Ohm-spider-like sparkling displayed around the fleshie femme, venting as he noticed her slag-eating grin before pointing a digit at her.

"Who's the fleshie?"

"The names Morwenna; nice to meet you Blackout."

The Decepticon frontliner looked at Barricade questioningly.

"Don't look at me; I'm still trying to figure out how she convinced _**ME**_ to stop fighting, let alone how such a young fleshling like her can know as much as she does."

A squadron of F-22's roared overhead, the sound of their payload hitting something _metallic_ freezing every muscle in the human femmes body.

**~Put the sparklings down NOW!~ **

Morwenna didn't even try and question the voice of the Allspark, gently placing each sparkling on the ground in front of her before getting on her hands and knees in preparation, ignoring the three 'Cons questioning gazes as the Allspark spoke again.

**~This is going to hurt.~ **

A half-second later it felt like her _entire body_ was on **FIRE**, all her muscles clenching spasmodically as she threw her head back, senses blind to the world around her. Blood started to drip out of every orifice as the power of the Allspark continued to flow into her, teeth protesting with sharp, stabbing pain as she struggled to remain silent.

**~HOLD ON!~ **

A small shockwave threw her backwards as the last of the Allspark energy entered her body, the pain making her pass out momentarily. For their part each Decepticon mech was thinking more or less the same thing; what in the **FRAGGIN' PITS **was _**THAT**_—and why did she radiate Allspark energy when she didn't a half a breem ago? And why was it now fading?

Morwenna groaned as she slowly came to, coughing to try and relieve some of the soreness in her throat from her suppressed screams, bringing a hand to clutch at her head as it throbbed in protest.

'_Ow.' _

**~Sorry.~ **

"_WHAT THE F—AN PIPE WAS __**THAT?!**__" _

Blearily she looked up at the mech that had spoken, looking briefly at four crimson optics before she closed her eyes and groaned, blindly securing the two microbot sparklings in her arms as the spindly sparkling got back onto her shoulder, nuzzling lightly against her neck before latching onto her clothing. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself before she opened her eyes and rose to her feet, grimacing as she wiped the blood off of various parts of her body.

"What do you think it was?"

Blackout looked at her incredulously; didn't SHE know?

"I—I have no idea."

She nodded; the less they knew about this at this point, the better.

Barricades optics narrowed; there was something that she wasn't telling them.

"Come; the battle is probably done by now and the sparklings are on their way. Let's try and get to the building before they do eh?"

Morwenna was able to slowly turn around and take two steps before her body gave out on her, grunting as she landed heavily on her knees to avoid injuring the sparklings in her arms. Looking back at the two larger mechs an idea started to form inside her head, waving them over to her as she spoke.

"I hate to ask this of you—mostly because I know that just 'cause you're listening to me doesn't mean that you like **OR** respect me. Hell; if it weren't for the fact that I had sparklings under my protection I would probably either be crushed or have a hole the size of my head through my torso from your weapons right about now—or vaporized; guess it would depend on what kind of mood you were in.

Sorry; I ramble when I'm nervous. Look; point is that even though I know that you won't fire with sparklings in the immediate vicinity the Autobots do not; frag, I wouldn't be surprised if Ironhide thought you were holding us all _hostage_. _**BUT**_; while they may be comfortable with doing a precision kill with only sparklings because they knew that they could survive the fall they would not be so confident if you were holding say—a human?"

The two larger 'Cons glanced at each other; was she saying what they thought she was saying?

"What do you mean?"

"What I'm saying is use your knowledge of the Autobots soft sparks for once! My god; it's not like it's the best kept secret in the world!

Use me as an effective—persuasion for them to hold their fire; after all, fleshlings have been known to terminate themselves from a 10 foot drop; imagine what would happen if one were to fall from the chest height of a full grown Cybertronian?...

That and I'd be getting a free lift outta the whole deal."

Frenzy rolled his optics; she made it sound so easy.

"An-nd if the Auto-tobots-s h-hate our 'h-human shield-d'?"

She grinned.

"Blame it on me. After all—I **DID** just suggest it."

Blackout grinned as he lowered a servo in offering; any human who could think like a 'Con was alright in his book. Barricade looked at her contemplatively as he hoisted Frenzy up to his shoulder strut—something didn't make sense.

"I thought you sided with those Autocreeps; why help us?"

Morwenna turned in her new perch to look down at the Decepticon scout, the smirk on her face making them both back up a bit.

"I like you guys; in all of the stories I've read or heard about you guys you three have always been more level-headed than most other Decepticons.

Besides; you didn't HAVE to listen to me—or let me live. That alone is reason enough for me to help you."

"…There's more to it; isn't there?"

She smiled sadly.

"There will be more time to go into detail later; for now, I have to get to the others and get in touch with the President.

Let's go."

Blackout looked at her suspiciously out of the corner of his optic as he began to move forward.

**:What the frag isn't she telling us?:**

Barricade narrowed his optics.

**:I don't know—but I intend to find out.: **

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"You left me no choice brother."

Optimus ignored the boy's jerk of surprise as he stared at Megatrons now lifeless optics, the silent grieving of his spark tempered by the quiet support that Ratchet offered him through their bond—he knew how close the two of them had been before the war. Letting out a nearly silent vent of air the Prime turned his attention to the boy, face plates twitching into a minute frown at his jerky responses when he knelt down in front of the human.

'_One so young should have never been forced to fight.'_

"Sam; I owe you my life. We are in your debt."

_#Some more than others.# _

Optimus sent a wave of affection down their bond as he sensed Ratchet and Ironhide come up behind him, straightening to his full height as Michaela pulled up to them in a well-used tow truck, optical strut raising at the sight of Bumblebee chained to the back.

**:Are you alright young one?: **

The scouts facial plates twitched upwards in an imitation of a smile as his optics brightened, doorwings fluttering happily behind him.

"Permission to speak sir?"

"You talk now?"

"Fraggin' glitch!"

Bumblebee directed his grin at the boy who stood gaping up at him as he dodged the half-sparked wrench toss that Ratchet sent his way, attention shifting back to Prime as the medic huffed in the back ground.

"Permission granted old friend."

"I wish to stay with the boy."

Optimus nodded.

"If that is his wish."

Optimus watched as Sam let his gaze drift in between them all, the faint grin on his face more telling than what any words could express.

"Yes."

Letting his optics scan the gathered human soldiers he made sure to catch each pair of eyes in his gaze before he spoke, the quiet aura of strength and pride at a job well done reaffirming the fact that he would have gladly given his life to protect a species that seemed to ooze it from every pore in their body.

"Thank you; ALL of you. You honor us with your bravery."

"And—Primus willing—I can thank you for your understanding as well."

Everyone turned to look at the person who had spoken in shock a split-second before all weapons were pointed in their direction, Morwenna tensing slightly in surprise before snapping her head around to stare at the black and white scout next to the mech holding her.

"Did ya'll block your energy signatures again?"

Barricade couldn't help but grin.

"I thought it would make our plea in front of the death squad more—interesting."

Morwenna rolled her eyes before burying her face in her hand.

"Primus spare me from Decepticons and their morbid sense of humor."

Ratchet couldn't help but snort at the femme's wry sense of humor as he pulled out his scanner, setting the levels to a passive surface scan before aiming it at her, keeping his gaze level as Blackout looked at him sharply. He wasn't about to shirk on his duties as a medic just because a couple of 'Cons were uncomfortable with…frag.

**:We've got a problem.: **

Instantly every Autobot was looking at him as they joined in on the open frequency, Ironhides navy blue optics instantly narrowing in on the 'Cons.

**:What is it?: **

**:The femme; she's injured.: **

Optimus' spark clenched in fear; their actions could end this alliance before it even truly started.

"Are you alright youngling? You have injuries to your form that you didn't have before."

She glanced over at Ratchet as she straightened her posture, the steely glint in her eye letting the Prime know that whatever battle she was about to undertake—she wouldn't give up easily.

"I am fine; whatever injuries showed on your scanner was a result of my own doing. _They_ had nothing to do with it."

Ironhide snorted in disbelief, cannons humming dangerously with their charge as he growled in the 'Cons direction.

"An' how do we know tha' _they_ arehn't threatenin' the sparklin's ta get ya ta say whatever they need ya ta in order ta save their sorry hides?"

She turned on him with a stern glare.

"Because I wouldn't be **nearly** so calm as I am now Ironhide—not even under their orders. My desire to protect the sparklings is too great for me to be complacent in a situation like that."

"And why the _hell_ should we trust them; or **you** for that matter?"

Morwenna looked down at Epps who was staring at the two 'Cons in contempt, finger resting snuggly against the trigger of his Sable Launcher as he held it in one hand.

"And why do you say that?"

He snorted.

"I don't know if anyone else remembers, but I as sure as hell know that the helo bot is the one that blew up Soccent air base and his little scorpion of death is what killed half of the remaining guys from the base before we were able to figure out that Sable rounds actually hurt them! **You** tell **me** why I shouldn't **hate** them!"

"I'm not saying that you shouldn't; hell, if you're using such a strong word as hate I doubt anything that **I** say will make you STOP hating them. I'm not even saying you should trust them; what I AM saying is that they should be given a chance—if for no other reason than to prove that we are BETTER than the darkness they were enslaved to for most of this war."

Morwenna felt Blackout stiffen beneath her, smiling grimly both at him and the confused Autobots that looked at her when she continued.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is," here she gave an exasperated sigh; "why does everyone expect them to change when they have never been given a reason to do so?"

"Because it's right?"

Morwenna looked down at Sam; he still held so much innocence—seeing the world in black and white instead of shades of grey.

"Better the evil of the known than the uncertainty of the unknown."

"Bullshi—"

The grating squeal of tires across the pavement cutoff whatever else Epps might have said, the dark red frame of an Alfa Romeo power drifting around the corner a moment later with the large, hulking form of a military transport making its own cumbersome turn soon after. Morwenna could hardly pay attention to the sports cars that formed a van guard behind it, (though she absently noticed Jazz's presence with a sense of satisfaction) the feeling that she was getting from the pit of her stomach, from the Allspark, letting her know that whatever made them hazard those speeds with sparklings wasn't going to be pleasant. Her suspicion was confirmed a moment later when the small convoy skidded to a stop in front of the gathered bot's, the red Romeo hurriedly ejecting its human passenger before transforming in a screech of motion and bringing its rifle to bear.

Gilded orbs scanned the streets with an obsessive compulsion as its companions started to transform, a growl ripping from its chest when its optics landed—not on the Decepticons, as was everyones knee-jerk reaction—on the _humans_ that flanked the other Autobots before lifting to stare straight at her with a piercing gaze.

"Morwenna!"

Hurriedly she looked down to the battered man she called a friend, the intensity of his grim gaze making her fear the worst.

"What is it Tom?"

He sighed through his nose.

"…..It's Hornet."

She hesitated for a microsecond—long enough for the three sparklings in her arms to find secure holds on Blackouts frame—before jumping off Blackout's shoulder towards the transport, barely recognizing that Hot Rod had to fling himself onto his back in order to catch her in time. Writhing in his hold she was off like a shot as soon as she was on solid ground, carefully wading through the sparklings inside to get to the rear of the transport. Looking—almost fearfully—over Michael's shoulder her breath caught at the sight of the clamps on either end of the small spark chamber, the attached cables leading back to a chair-sized machine that recorded an unsteady spark-beat.

Her sparkling was in mortal danger.

"RATCHET~!"

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Next time on IofC: The team meets the rest of the sparklings, Lennox is horrified, there's a show-down between Sector Seven and Keller, and the beginning of a road trip to D.C.

Review and see ya next time my mechlings!


	12. Transitions

Fea: I'M ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII VE! *cackles madly*

Seriously though; I want to thank EVERYONE who has put up with my massive writers block and who still check up on this story from time to time.

Not to mention those people who decided to favorite and follow my story in the MIDDLE of my massive absence.

THANK YOU ALL!

Now since I haven't done one in a while I will do one now.

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Transformers—whether that be the toys, comics, games, movies or cartoons….Though I dearly wish I did.

Now; Peeps ta thank!

Angel897: Glad you liked it! Cliffhangers are a great way to get people to continue reading don't you think?

Phoenyx Starr: Sorry; kind of elude to it but you'll have to wait until the next chapter to actually find out what was wrong with Hornet. You'll see why in this chapter though. Thank you: exactly WHY they were so easy to convert will be explained later too!

XxShadowfangxX: Glad I saved 'em too; as for the sparklings….that's been pushed back a chapter. Stories take on a life of their own I swear.

Flamingfoxviper: Thanks!

Guest: Glad you think so!

Cool: I am; sloooowly.

Black-Kat 012: Actually, while I will incorporate elements from the other two movies as well as the comics and books that are associated with this universe I will kinda veer off in my own direction from now on. Not to say that there won't be plenty of action!

WarrriorKat21: All I can say is read to find out!

Gemava: Thanks! You can't see it but Sunstreaker's preening right now—say hi Sunsteaker! (S.S) *Hn*(F)…Well; I think most of us can translate Sunstreaker, yes? As for Sideswipe*rubs hands evilly* he will never know what hit him.

All the sparklings have already been foisted off to various mechs—it's getting them to Earth that's taking them awhile.

Your Stalker: …I'm not sure whether to be creeped out or flattered. Either way here's the next chapter!

Kyubbi lover 98: Thanks!

LGTracy: I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Here's another chapter; stop going through withdrawals! Don't worry; it comes back in this chapter.

Lina Marie: She doesn't like her sparklings messed with. Even one's she's just met.

Artemis prime: Here ya go!

Taboo22: Danke!

Guest 1,2, &3: Don't know if ya'll are different ppl but here's the next chapter!

Demon of my heart and mind: Why yes; yes they DO all have names. I swear when Ratch gets around ta giving them all checkups everyone will learn their names; SWEAR!

And while I don't exactly HATE most stories that have a mary-sue—they are often poorly written (story or character) and I will not allow myself to publish something I am not happy with. That and it gets annoying how they just seem to have the answer to everything without having to give up anything.

Dragonia: What would the fun of them just being handed everything be? There would be nothing to write about!

Xireana Zetsubou: Lol I'm happy to hear it! Here's the next one!

Hiniko: THANK YOU!

EpikalStorms: Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok! Here!

Guest 4: Halfway through chapt. 13 already!

Chibichibi98: Thank you; though she gives A reason as to why she's so protective of the sparklings in this chapter it won't be until slightly after the timeframe of the second movie that you'll find out THE reason she's so fiercely protective of them.

Just FYI.

Ice-Fire: Glad you do. Here's another one!

Now: ON TO THE STORY!

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*S ilverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Sil verlight*

"RATCHET!"

Ratchets higher functions froze as he turned to look at the canvas-covered vehicle, the pure desperation in the femmes tone threatening to pull him back to the beginning of the war. It took a very strong spark-pulse from his mate to pull himself from the loopback of memories, only to have his spark jump in his chassis as sparklings of all shape and size came pouring out of the transport to stand at the pedes of the mechs that surrounded it like sentinels, every weapon online and pointed—not at the three Decepticons, which would've been expected—but at the _humans_ scattered along the street, optics alert and tense for any movement.

Quickly Ratchet let his optics rove over the four mechs as he began to move forward, taking note of the various scrapes, dents and tears that littered their frames as he stepped in between Hot Rod and Jazz and carefully kneeled down next to the vehicle, absently tasking one of his secondary scanners to do a broad diagnostic on each of the sparklings that surrounded him as he carefully took the canvas off and looked inside.

#Primus.#

Medical routines kicked into overdrive as he did an in depth scan on the sparkling that laid before him, faceplates twisting into a frown at what he found.

"How bad is it?"

Ratchet looked down at the human mech that was partially supporting the sparkling, noting his injuries—though **none** were as high a priority as the sparkling—before carefully removing the monitor from around the little ones spark. Immediately afterwards he activated the specialized magnetic pulsars in the tips of his digits to slowly manipulate the sparklings outer field with careful and precise movements, only giving the briefest of glances when a noisy bunch of humans screeched up next to them and Morwenna went to defend her sparklings as needed, content in the knowledge that the five mechs surrounding him were more than a match.

Quietly venting in relief as he managed to get the two parts of the spark moving as one again he fixed the damaged field stabilizer in the tiny spark chamber and then started repairing the various micro-wields and tears in the sparklings frame, pleased to note Hot Rod's handiwork in the repairs to the fuel lines and intake—it would seem that his apprentice had progressed since they had left the Ark II if he felt comfortable enough to instruct others. Now that much of his processor space had been freed—repairs like this were second nature to him after all—he was able to pick up on the situation around him, temper steadily rising at some of the things that those—those _wastes_ of sentience fleshlings were trying to accuse them of.

It didn't help that he could hear some of them not so quietly grumbling about what they would do to the various members of his team—and the humans that had dared to side with them—once they had the chance.

Quickly—but thoroughly—finishing the final wield on the little ones frame he looked up from his task to glare at the aggravating humans, a subsonic snarl ripping out of his chest when they had the audacity to call them something so primitive as a '_machine'_.

#Easy Ratchet; let our human allies deal with this one.#

He looked over at Optimus and gave a short nod even as he straightened from his crouch, not so subtly transforming his left servo into a saw as he looked at the offending humans coolly—then he caught sight of Fixit. His optics narrowed as he stared at the smaller field medic as he attended to some minor wounds on one of the sparklings; if he had been with the sparklings this _entire time_, why hadn't he fixed the little one in his stead?

**:Now isn't the time or place Ratchet; not in front of all of these—fleshlings.: **

Ratchet snapped his optics over to glare at the Italian accented noble, optical strut rising as he noticed the almost—protective stance that he had taken in front of the small red and white.

**:Since when have you cared about the well-being of others?: **

Mirage flinched even as the corners of his mouth lifted—he deserved that, he supposed.

**:I always have; accompanying Thomas on his journey has merely—brought it to light.: **

**:Thomas?: **

Mirage pointed downwards before re-adjusting his grip on his rifle, making sure to give a pointed stab of his EM field when one of the screechy humans came too close for his liking. Curiously Ratchet glanced down at the human indicated—only to stare in horrified amazement at how immature the smaller human male was acting (even if he _WAS_ entertaining some of the sparklings in the process).

**:****THAT**** is the human that saved you?: **

Mirage glanced downwards before groaning, embarrassment and resignation coloring his field as he replied.

**:Unfortunately yes.: **

**:There is another vehicle approaching.: **

Instantly every 'bot was turning in the direction that Hot Rod indicated over the comm.s, servos transforming into weapons as the car came within the range of their optics.

Ratchet sighed.

**:What now?: **

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Captain William A. Lennox winced at the high pitched scream that pierced the air, tensing at some of the more—unpleasant memories it dug up, shaking himself slightly to dispel the lingering images.

"I still don't see why we shouldn't shove a sable round _SO FAR UP _the 'Cons ass that their _ancestors_ will be feelin' it! I mean—we would've never let some random groups of humans get away with that; why should they?!"

Epps smiled fiercely as the other men of their unit cheered in agreement, looking at Will with fire in his eyes.

Lennox pinched the bridge of his nose as he glanced sidelong at his pissed of sergeant: he understood where he was coming from—Donelly was a good man and soldier and they had no idea if Fig was even in the green; not to mention all of the outstanding men and women that had died in the attack at Soccent. But he also understood—albeit reluctantly—the stance of the Autobots; not only did the two Decepticons have a number of sparklings in their possession they had made no threatening moves against anyone since they had appeared with Morwenna. And he would _**like**_ to think that they were the lesser of two evils right now; after all, _THEY_ haven't been torturing _sparklings_ for the better part of two decades.

"I can't speak for Prime or the other Autobots—but I think that it's a combination of things that are letting them_ 'get away with it'_, so to speak."

Ridderman snorted as he slung his M-16 over one shoulder, glancing at the so called _'good'_ robots weapons as he spoke.

"And what—exactly—would those be?"

"Well first off I think the biggest—and most important—reason would be that they're holding and apparently rescued a couple of sparklings; also the reason they probably trust them more than most of us right now."

Epps stiffened.

"What?"

"Don't you remember what Morwenna told us? Or am I the only one who got the cold pit in the bottom of my stomach?"

Alders looked in between his two commanding officers curiously.

"What? What'd she tell you?"

Lennox was about to answer when some of the other soldiers that surrounded them pointed to the ring of Autobots in shock, everyone turning to watch sparklings pour out of the transport to stand next to their oversized guardians; Lennox nodded towards them as he spoke.

"That those sparklings are the most valued and heavily defended of their entire species. They're their version of children—and our government has been unknowingly ordering experiments on them for a long time."

"How long?"

"Again I can only guess—but I would say nearly as long as they've had **him**," He pointed behind him to Megatrons ruined frame, "and the Cube in one location—and based on what Sector Seven was saying I would think that they were together when humans started '_inventing'_ modern technology back in the 1900's."

A loud thudding sounded as Ratchet seemed to snap out of his daze and rushed over to the transport, dropping to one knee as he took off the canvas and looked inside. Will watched in fascination as his hands seemed to split into a myriad of smaller tools before descending through the roof of the transport, jerking himself back to his men as Ridderman spoke again.

"I can understand protecting the sparklings; hell, anything that childlike I'd probably want to protect too—what I don't get is why she would want to protect the evil 'bots as well."

"That's because she's not from this '_world'_ either."

All four turned to look at the battered man who had just finished crossing the distance in between them and the transport, the aura of an enlisted soldier coming off him in waves.

"And you are…?"

"Michael Donahue, ex-gunnery sergeant for the U.S. Army."

Will immediately latched onto that.

"_Ex?" _

Michael straightened into the classic at-ease stance as he nodded solemnly, eyes flicking up to the Autobots behind them before settling again.

"Went against direct orders to secure a batch _of 'miniaturized N.B.E's'_ for deactivation and '_theft'_ of military technology because said N.B.E's were classified as _'inorganic, unintelligent advanced robotics for the research and development of future military weaponry'_."

He snorted.

"I was dishonorably discharged that same night and was in holding when Morwenna freed us; they were debating whether or not to even let me **go** when she showed up. After all; I knew _far_ too much for Sector Seven to be comfortable with letting me roam free."

They just stared at him for a time as they tried to come to terms with what he had told them, Alders squinting in distrust as he recalled the question.

"What do you mean: not from this world? She's human ain't she?"

"Yes but she didn't—maybe if I explain a different way.

Yes she's human: yes she grew up on Earth and yes she's a fairly normal U.S citizen; what makes her different is the fact that where she came from none of us—none of _THEM_ ever existed outside of cartoons and movies.

I mean; she described what Megatron, Prime, Wheeljack AND Sentinel Prime looked like down to the last detail and two of those 'bots aren't even **ON** Earth; and three days ago Prime hadn't even landed yet and the only humans who knew about Megatron were Sector Seven agents."

"Morwenna has seen Sentinel Prime? Does she know his location?"

Michael looked up in surprise at the tall Prime that had managed to move up behind him so quietly, turning so that he at least wasn't looking at the repressively anxious mech upside down, shrugging as he did so.

"She refused to tell Sunstreaker when he asked her; said that the only one that she would explain things to was you and only because there were things you needed to know that couldn't be explained without telling you about Sentinel as well. It didn't sound like she had any sort of respect for the mech at—."

"It's Sector Seven!"

Lennox tensed as Michael cursed and ran off to help the as of yet unnamed Autobots form a defensive line in front of the transport, motioning for his men to follow when he noticed Morwenna jump out of the vehicle to take a fierce stance in between the red and yellow 'bots feet, crossing her arms and leveling the oncoming cars with a look of thinly veiled disgust. Following her example he had his men form a secondary ring around the transport; protocols be damned—if it came down to a fight he knew which side _**HE**_ would fight for.

Everyone tensed as the vehicles formed a horseshoe before stopping, heavily armed agents with sabots and nitrous oxide tanks pouring out with trained precision before taking position just in front of the vehicles, weapons aimed at the Autobots and two larger Decepticons with unerring accuracy. Lennox watched as a slim, female figure walked in front of their lines with a bedraggled man following soon after, eyebrow raising as Michael actually growled at the man.

"What's the matter?"

Michael gave a sharp glance in his direction before returning his stare to the homeless looking man, teeth clenched in restrained fury as he hissed.

"That…**bastard** nearly killed Hornet—the sparkling that Ratchets working on now."

Recalling how terrified Morwenna had sounded when she had called out for the medic he leveled his own glare at the man, smirking as he looked at him in confusion while the woman started to speak.

"Under the mandates from the Directing Council of Sector Seven I have the authority to communicate with the grander N.B.E's to convey our wishes that you surrender yourselves, the miniaturized N.B.E's and your human conspirators with the minimum amount of resistance for transportation, classification, repurposing and deactivation. If you refuse I am authorized under protocol 17.3A-9829 to use debilitating force on the miniaturized and lethal on the granders.

Compliance would be….. sagacious."

Morwenna rolled her eyes.

"So says the chit that works for a made-up organization that no one has even heard of _**or**_ seen before. And your derisive attitude and obvious willingness to use deadly force _REALLY_ makes me want to listen to you; not.

Threatening us while asking us to surrender isn't really the best way to make us compliant either; or is this a _normal_ way of asking politely for you?"

The woman sneered, a delicately manicured nail rising to tuck a blonde curl behind one ear as she attempted to look down on them all loftily—which was kind of impossible considering that all of the Cybertronians were at least three times her height.

"Considering that we nearly had a national incident on our hands with our biggest form of research escaping it's cryo-containment bay—not to mention all of the data lost when _**you**_ purloined the miniaturized N.B.E's, Room 13 computer towers _and_ breached the yellow machines containment bay and the Witfiky boy reacquiring his '_car'_—and the alien source of energy being _illegally_ removed from the Hover facility along with the destruction of N.B.E 1 its honestly the most considerate gesture I can muster to not have you traitorous humans on the ground right now in hand cuffs with the N.B.E's frozen and in containment.

Not to mention the ultimate objective of **THEIR** kind, which we were able to extract and decode from N.B.E 1 shortly after moving him to the facility."

"And that would be…..?"

"The dominance, enslavement and perversion of all developed sentient life in the known universe."

Lennox narrowed his eyes; he had only been with the Autobots for _HALF A DAY_ and already he could tell that they were **NOTHING** like the crazed silver warlord that Sam had destroyed with the Cube—oh…._shit_.

He glanced at the curly haired teenager as Sam went to stand in front of the handicapped Autobot protectively, dreading the implosion that doubtlessly occur once he realized the full extent of his actions.

"Then you haven't looked deep enough or you would **KNOW** that is the furthest thing from the Autobot's goals."

"And how do we know that they aren't just an infiltration division; something set up to get us to trust in pre-programmed, soulless _**MACHINES**_ so that they can enslave us the _moment_ we let our guard down?"

Will had to glare at his men to keep them silent; technically the Autobots weren't allies yet because they hadn't been officially declared as such by the government—a fact that Sector Seven exploited ruthlessly because it meant that the enlisted personnel gathered couldn't say or do anything against their _'personal opinion'. _It irritated him that he couldn't defend a comrade in arms—he definitely counted the black topkick as such—and had to rely on a tenacity of a _civilian_ to put these people in their place. He glanced back as Ratchet straightened, smirking as the medic transformed his hand for an obvious show of intimidation; judging from the white knuckled grip the grunts were suddenly sporting….

On the other hand he was faintly impressed by the rigidity that entered Morwennas spine as soon as the word '_machine'_ had left the woman's mouth, her eyes flat chips of jade as she spoke, each word ridged and controlled.

"How _**dare**__ you_….how dare you judge an _entire species_ based off of the actions of_ one or two mechs _when you know _NOTHING_—"

"The N.B.E's created by the power source were feral and homicidal; what ones we didn't have to shoot had to be _broken_ before they were tame enough for experimentation. And yet we've been told that you claim it as a source of life for these robots you defend; does that not mean that _**THEY**_ are feral—"

"They were _protecting_ themselves! If you were a child and something completely alien and unknown to you tried to grab or harm _**you**_ wouldn't you strike out to try and _defend_ yourself?! The fact that they have integrated weaponry to lash out _with_ shouldn't change that fact and anyone who had _half a brain_ and was actually **THINKING** at your make believe Sector should've been able to **realize** that!"

Pure fury was written in to the blondes features as she stomped over to Morwenna was standing—only to backpedal a moment later as a red mech with the long rifle glared at her after readjusting his weapon.

Suddenly every Autobot—and Decepticon—helm turned to stare down the road the SUV's had come from 20 minutes earlier, the sounds of another vehicle reaching his ears a few moments later.

He groaned internally.

'_Now what?' _

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

"Yes sir….yes sir; we'll be there by the time you arrive sir….I will emphasize that they are to remain unharmed…Yes sir; goodbye sir."

Secretary Keller sighed as he shut his phone with a soft '_snik'_, absently staring at it as he thought of the little cellbot that Morwenna had rescued as he leaned back into the seat of the town car, looking up as Banachek cleared his throat softly.

"What did the President say sir?"

"Not much; we are to meet him at Nellis with the _'extra-terrestrials'_ and for the time being they are to be considered allies till proven otherwise; and…"

"And what sir?"

"…..Sector Seven is to consider itself officially disbanded. Anything else he might have said is meant for specific personnel only—I'm sure you understand."

Tom nodded absently in stunned silence as he glanced at the brooding Seymour Simmons, wincing as the gloomy man started grumbling underneath his breath. Sighing he turned to look out the window, grimacing as the words of Miss Morrigan played through his head yet again.

Children!

It almost made him physically ill to think of all the different experimentations and '_observational'_ and '_interactive'_ tests that they had done to the little ones over the years, the dread of facing the full grown N.B—Cybertronians wrath growing with each passing mile until it was all he could think about. The only reason he wasn't having a full out panic attack was because of Morwenna's off-handed comment that they wouldn't kill them—though it sounded like it was fully within the laws of their culture to do so.

As they turned onto the main street to get to where the Cybertronians were gathered he nearly groaned aloud at the sight that greeted him—damn that woman for being so stubbornly persistent! Not that it wasn't a trait that he hadn't admired, but all it served to do now was put everyone associated with Sector Seven in an even worse light.

Steeling himself as they pulled to a stop in between the two squared of women he stepped out of the car, holding the door open respectfully for the SECDEF as he stepped out a moment later, the cool balance of a politician surrounding him as he did so.

"Are these personnel apart of your Sector Banachek?"

He nodded sharply.

"Yes sir. The woman's name is Elizabeth Howell and the man next to her is Adam Teven; they are—**were** a part of our Tracking, Capture, and Relocation Division."

Keller nodded his head at the new information as he scanned the fairly large ranks of the Autobots, forcibly keeping himself from gawking at the varied range and sizes of them as he turned to look at Howell, eyes narrowing at the pure loathing etched into her face before he turned back to the Autobots.

Well; here went nothing.

"Which one of you is the leader of your group?"

The large, red and blue flamed 'bot stepped forward before kneeling down in front of Keller, the older man relaxing unconsciously at the reduction in height as he did so.

"My name is Optimus Prime and I am the Leader of the Autobots. May I ask your designation and what your function within your countries government is?"

Keller let out a small relieved smile; this was going to be smoother than he first thought.

"I am Brian J. Keller and I am the Secretary of Defense for the Unites States government.

I have been authorized by my nations President to extend a truce to you and your team until you both are able to meet and negotiate terms to become official allies of the United States."

He watched as Prime—blinked? in stunned surprise before what passed for his lips turned upwards in a relieved/grateful smile, his men relaxing around him by some unseen signal.

"It would be my honor to accept such a request—both the truce and a chance to become allies with such a small yet resilient species."

Here he turned to look at Howell and her assembled men, pleased to notice that Captain Lennox and his men had been silently moving up on the now ex-Sector Seven agents while he had been talking with Prime.

"The President also gave me authorization to do one other thing—the disbandment and immediate dismantling of the former organization known as Sector Seven."

"No…_no, no, no_; there has to have been some sort of mistake!"

Keller frowned at Howell as she took a step towards him entreatingly, the men behind her wavering at the shocking and unexpected news.

"I assure you that it is no mistake: The President knows just as much as I do about the situation and based upon the knowledge myself—along with others—were able to provide he determined this to be the best course of action.

Especially when taking into consideration the Intergalactic Incident that _you_ could have caused had you actually been able to apprehend one of the Autobots."

"B-Bu—their nothing more than _**MACHINES**_!"

His eyes narrowed in thinly veiled dislike.

"The President does not see it as such.

Now; you will hand over your weaponry over to Captain Lennox and his team, along with any classified documentation you may have—afterwards you are to return to your base of operations to receive further instructions."

"_YOU CAN'T __**DO**__ THIS!" _

He wasn't impressed.

"I believe I already am."

Elizabeth looked around her frantically as she tried to figure out a way to get herself and her men out of there; could no one but her see just how _DANGEROUS_ these—these **THINGS** were? That all she was doing was for the safety and protection of their race?! Ignoring one of the idiotic soldiers that asked for her pistol she scanned the group of machines before her, slate eyes narrowing as she caught sight of that _WOMAN_.

_Her_; without her **NONE** of this would've _happened_!

Glancing over at Adam she flicked her eyes in the brunette's direction, receiving the barest nod in return she faced her and slowly counted to five, drawing her pistol and firing at the same time Adam tackled the soldier next to her. She smiled in grim satisfaction as she watched that imperious face scrunch up in shocked pain moments before she was being tackled into the ground, laughing as they handcuffed her.

Let the things try to recover from **THAT**.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*

Morwenna let out a sigh of relief as Keller stepped out of the vehicle, thankful that it wasn't even **MORE** reinforcements for Sector Seven, though she made a face as Simmons sullenly stepped out of the car.

"What's with that facial expression?"

She glanced up at Hot Rod as the SECDEF began to speak, jerking her head over to the sullen Sector agent while raising an eyebrow.

"They brought the moody one."

Confusion entered those bright optics as he looked over at the curly haired man; she went back to listening to Keller, nodding her head in approval as she heard the offer of truce.

'_Good for them.' _

Her expression turned smug as she watched the blonde—Howell go into self-denial when the orders for disbandment were issued, rolling her eyes as the woman's ignorant remarks only served to make most of the humans around her irritated. Morwenna was still trying to figure out the wordless conversation between her and the homeless man when she saw something metallic whip up from her hip, a tiny grunt of surprise escaping her as she was suddenly forced back a step, the manic smile on Howell's face holding all of her attention until she was tackled by one of Lennox's men.

"MORWENNA!"

….Funny; the first thing she felt wasn't the pain.

No; it was the warm, sticky wetness of her own blood as it poured out of the wound on her right shoulder, her head turning to watch it in detached fascination as more pumped out with every heartbeat. _**THEN**_ the pain hit, the pure force of it dropping her to her knees as she curled into herself, a wordless scream of agony escaping her lips as she grabbed the injured shoulder with one hand. Tears poured down her face as she tried to keep herself from making any other noise, whipping her head up as someone's servo lightly skimmed across her back.

Looking into the worried, pinched optics of the Autobot Medic she climbed into his servo without question, a pained whimper leaving clenched teeth as he brought her up to optic level. There was a bit of movement as he walked over to the transport before laying her down on the floor, reaching across to take the emergency kit from Lennox's hands before transforming his servos, optics cycling to their highest magnification as he set to work.

Morwenna let out a sob of relief as he injected a dose of morphine straight into her neck, eyes drooping tiredly as she lost more and more blood. She was nearly asleep when Ratchet finished putting the last suture into her skin, grunting in discomfort as he bound her arm tightly to her side, grimacing when something small, metallic and blood-stained was thunked onto her chest.

"_Ewww_; couldn't you have washed it first?"

Morwenna was pleased with herself when a wry grin crossed his tense features and his shoulders relaxed, faceplates morphing into his signature irritated look as he crossed his arms an astrosecond later.

He would have to settle for glaring instead of his signature wrench upside the helm.

"Fraggin' **GLITCH**! Why the pit didn't you dodge?!"

"She's fine."

"How can you tell?"

"Hatchet wouldn't be shouting at her if she wasn't."

"…Good point."

Ratchet disappeared from the opening of the transport to confront the ones talking, the loud '_clang'_ of metal on metal ringing through the air a moment later. Chuckling tiredly Morwenna looked around at what she could see of the transport—she knew better than to move before Ratchet had okayed it—raising an eyebrow as she spotted the canvas bag from the Montana Sector base.

'_So __**THAT'S**__ where it went.' _

"Morwenna."

She snapped her head back up to look at Ratchet, waving her good arm as Optimus came up to stand next to him.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded, looking to Ratchet in question before she slowly sat herself up and forced herself to be more aware, hissing briefly as the skin around the wound was tugged, rolling forwards onto her feet so that she could crane her neck back far enough to look at both of them, smiling at the worried light in those blue optics.

"I'm fine Optimus; a little banged up but nothing a good night's rest can't fix; really."

"Resting is _ALL_ you'll be doing; anything above a walk could reopen the wound—and I don't appreciate having my work ruined."

Morwenna smiled nervously as she nodded her head in agreement, all three of them turning to look at Keller as he walked up to them, timeworn eyes traveling over the damage done to her arm as he spoke.

"Are you well enough to make a trip to Nellis?"

"I can handle a simple car ride; we're only going what—15 miles?"

"Good; I called the President on the way here and filled him in on the details and he wants to meet with **ALL** of you at Nellis within the hour. Will your men be ok with a human escort to the base Prime?"

Optimus nodded, looking over at the easy interaction most of the mechs in his contingency had with the humans they had so recently fought alongside, a grim smile appearing behind his facemask at the captured would-be sparkling killers.

"As long as Captain Lennox and his men are the ones doing the escorting; they have proven themselves to be allies and friends in this most recent battle, and my men will be far less likely to attack out of reflex if they feel boxed in."

Keller nodded in agreement, eyes straying towards to the two mechs that stood apart from the rest of the group as he spoke.

"And what of your—ah, _captives_ Miss Morrigan?"

She shook her head; smiling wryly as she watched the larger Decepticons play with the sparklings they had rescued earlier.

"Don't worry about them; even if they hate half of the Autobots here right now, they wouldn't do anything that would harm the sparklings or their chances of staying with them. I think that as long as I'm the one talking to them, they'll listen."

Ratchet raised an orbital strut in disbelief.

"You _think_?"

She shrugged.

"They _ARE_ Decepticons—even if they did agree to a cease-fire with a human. Just—trust me when I say I have a pretty good idea about what I'm doing."

Optimus nodded.

"Be as it may we will have to trust your judgment for now Morwenna; though I am curious as to when you'll finally give an in depth explanation for all of your knowledge on our kind."

"…..I have some information I '_acquired'_ from the Sector base I found Sunstreaker and the sparklings in; now that we aren't actively fighting anyone I can have Frenzy break into the tower I have with me and send you a data packet once he is done—though everything else will have to wait until we truly have a moment to ourselves: I'm sure I know things that you don't want the rest of my race discovering—not this early into an alliance."

Optimus blinked at her consideration for the secrecy and honor of their race, ridges scrunching together in a frown a moment later as he berated himself. She had been nothing but helpful since the moment he met her—a little overbearing perhaps, but helpful all the same.

"Well; if we're all in agreement why don't we get going—the President is due to arrive in 40 minutes and I'm sure that everyone not involved in negotiations would like somewhere to rest for the night. If you would follow behind me Prime, I'll lead you there."

The tall Autobot dipped his helm in agreement, straightening from his crouch as he did so.

"Thank you Mr. Secretary."

"Please; Keller is just fine with me when we aren't in an official setting. Now let's get going—I don't want to have to explain myself if we're late."

Morwenna shook her head as she watched Keller and Prime walk off, very carefully crouching down to grab at the bag with her good arm, grinning sheepishly up at Ratchet as she noticed that he was still watching her.

"Uh; little help getting down?"

She chuckled nervously as he glared at her before '_rolling'_ his optics and lowering a servo, waiting until she was seated comfortably before he lifted her up and out. Despite the fact that she knew that he wouldn't really harm her Morwenna couldn't help but feel relieved as the servo holding her touched the ground, flinching in spite of herself as his digits twitched inwards.

"Remember; walking **ONLY**."

Silently she nodded her head, scrambling off of his servo to help James and the others guide the sparklings back onto the transport, smiling as he spotted her and waved.

"Nice ta see that your walking around 'Wen."

"It looked worse than it actually was; though it didn't hurt that my doctor is the best in all of Cybertron."

"Singing the medics praises are we Morwenna?"

She turned to stare up oddly at Hot Rod as he carefully loaded a handful of sparklings into the transport, smiling as she noticed him slip the drowsy, flame-colored frame of Firestorm into his carrying chamber.

"How many other beings do you know-Cybertronian or human-who would've been able to treat and patch up a member of the opposite species after being on their planet for a grand total of three days? Cause if you do you really need to point them out—Ratch could use the assistance."

"Alright, alright; Primus—if I didn't know any better I'd say you had a cr—."

She kicked him in the pede to keep him from finishing that sentence, grinning as he hopped around comically while James laughed before returning to their task.

"So where are we headed?"

"Nellis Air Force Base; it isn't that far away and the seclusion and space will allow the Autobots to relax a bit."

Ruth stuck her head around the side of the vehicle, an exited grin playing across her features as she walked up to Morwenna, an unexplainably dirty Sunstream in tow.

"Did you say Nellis?"

Morwenna nodded, tilting her head curiously as Ruth's grin got even wider.

"What's with the grin?"

Ruth chuckled, magically producing a wet cloth from nowhere as she proceeded to scrub the grubby sparkling, pinning the young femme in place with a look before speaking.

"Because _THAT_ is where my Ben is stationed."

James looked surprised before he snapped his fingers.

"I _knew_ that place sounded familiar for some reason."

He yelped as Ruth snapped him with the wet cloth, glaring mockingly at the giggling ice blue sparkling in his hands before boosting him up to the transport, turning to flash a rueful smile at his wife before gently handing some of the smaller sparklings off to the ones already on board.

"I was only joking woman; jeez."

She sniffed, unsuccessfully hiding the playful smile that tugged at her lips.

"One should never joke about their offspring—no matter how adorable they were as a child."

They managed to keep a straight face for all of two seconds before breaking down sniggering, Morwenna shaking her head in bemused exasperation as she loaded the last of the sparklings into the transport, gingerly hiking Vultus up onto her left hip before turning away.

"Well as—amusing as this has been I should really get over to Barricade and Blackout; after all, even if they know that the Autobots will honor my promise of cease-fire they must be feeling a little uneasy."

Sunstreaker snorted as he rolled up next to the red Autobot.

"There's no such thing as an uneasy Decepticon."

She grinned over one shoulder.

"Oh? If the situations were reversed; wouldn't you be?"

With that parting shot she made her way over to the darkly colored mechs, laughing as she noticed the two electro-birds seated atop Barricades head, a sniggering Frenzy holding the small cell-bot as he sat one of the scouts' shoulders.

"Not. A. Word."

Waving her hand dismissively at the grumpy black-and-white she turned her attention to Blackout, smiling gently at the large sparkling that dozed fitfully as he rested against one powerful leg.

"I take it he was tired?"

"_Obviously_; the femme was too—handed her to the Autobots yapy-aft TIC shortly before she nodded off. And your mechling there doesn't seem to be doing much better."

Morwenna glanced over to where Vultus was resting his helm on her shoulder, smiling as she noticed the near blackness in his optics. Craning her head over she placed a kiss on the top of his helm, nuzzling it briefly before re-adjusting her grip.

"Ever since I rescued him and the others it seems like the only way Vultus will fall asleep is if he is in contact with me or Michael at all times."

Blackout nodded, gently shaking the large sparkling as he noticed the Autobots starting to move.

"Wake up little one; we're going to follow the others now."

Both of them watched as he shook his helm blearily before transforming, engine idling softly as he went to get in line with the other grounders; Morwenna smiled as Ironhide pulled up next to him after jerking forward in surprise, raising an eyebrow as Blackout snorted suddenly.

"He says to **WARN** them next time about sparklings that are nearly as large as he is. Personally I think he's just annoyed that he didn't get to smother the sparkling _sooner_."

Morwenna chuckled softly as Barricade scooped up his various passengers and transformed around them, opening one of his passenger doors so that she could gently lay a recharging Vultus inside, engine revving impatiently as she closed the door and circled around to his other side before getting in herself. Wordlessly Frenzy handed her the same device that had allowed her to talk to Barricade earlier and she reluctantly handed him the tower in trade, mouth thinning into a line and body tensing as he looked at her curiously.

"Don't ask; you'll find out soon enough what's on it anyway. Just—once you've calmed down don't forget to send a copy ta Prime, alright?"

Frenzy nodded warily: he didn't like the femmes tone as she had said that one sentence, glancing down at the—prehistoric piece of machinery with something nearing apprehension. What would possibly be on here that would make her react like _that_?

Double-looping himself to the tower to provide enough power to gain access to the antiquated contraption he set to work as Barricade fell into line behind the now moving Autobots, Blackout's voice crackling to life over the ear piece as he did so.

**:Where are we going femme?: **

**:Nellis Airforce Base; it's fairly large and will allow you to spend some time out of your alternate mode. While your race is no doubt designed to remain in these modes for some time I'm sure it becomes annoying—if not painful—for ya'll to be stuck like this for too long.:**

**:You have no idea human—do you have any idea how BORING some of your law enforcements garages can be in the middle of your sleep cycle?: **

She smirked, patting the cruisers seat lightly as she spoke in a condescending tone.

**:Poor Barricade; was the silence too much for the big bad Decepticon?:**

She grinned widely as Blackouts chuckle filtered over the comm line even as Barricade revved his engine angrily, clucking her tongue reprovingly as Vultus shifted slightly in his recharge.

**:Really Barricade; what if you wake up the sparklings?: **

Said mech sunk onto his tires in grudging resignation as the now transformed Blackouts chuckles turned into full blown laughter, stopping abruptly as the disgruntled cop car data burst something.

**:You wouldn't.: **

**:Try me.:**

There was a small pause before Blackout spoke again, all traces of joviality gone from his tone.

**:Why did you decide to name him—the small silver mechling with you—Vultus?: **

**:…After I freed him from his—'**_**restraints'**_** I had set him down on the floor so that I could test his mobility; see if he could walk on his own or if I had to carry him. The first thing he does after regaining his balance is to toddle around poking, prodding and closely examining everything—looking with all the curiosity that children are so well known for. It struck me—after he had startled me by pressing an alarm button to a machine—that that could be a designation for him.**

…**.I told him that '**_**Vultus'**_** in Latin means '**_**to**__** look'**_**; but that's not true. '**_**Vultus'**_** means '**_**A**__** look; an expression of the eyes'**_**. **

**I named him Vultus because of his innocent wonder as he took in the world around him, even though he had been captive and tortured by that **_**same**_** world not minutes before: it was a designation to remind me every time I said it, every time I looked or thought of him of **_**WHAT**_** I was fighting for—why I pushed myself beyond my limits every day for them.**

**It was so that expression would never be lost—least of all by war.:**

There was silence for a few moments as the 'Cons digested her words, all of them jerking as Frenzy let out a manic hiss before pinning Morwenna to Barricades back seat, her close proximity to a terrified Vultus and the fact that she had actively helped him save the mirco-bot up front the only two reasons he didn't try to end her right then and there.

"Is it true? _IS WHAT'S IN THIS—THIS __**THING**__ TRUE?!"_

Morwenna knew better than to try to remove or touch the irate symbiote pressing into her chest, taking a shallow, controlled breath as she looked into raging blue/purple optics.

"If—if it's anything like the photos—"

He _snarled_, ignoring both Barricade and Blackout over the comm as he glared at her.

"_What. Photo's?" _

Ever so slowly she reached next to her to get the sizable stack out of the bag, hissing as Frenzy pushed against her wound to steady himself as he grabbed at the damning evidence, throwing it against the nearest window after he had gotten a few pictures in, one of his shuriken pressing dangerously against her throat.

"_HOW COULD YOU ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN?!" _

Morwenna narrowed her eyes, her voice low and controlled even though it was pinched in pain.

"In case you have forgotten-**FRENZY**-I have been on this version of earth about as long as **PRIME** has compared to you.

And I don't know what kind of fucked up powers you _THINK_ I have, but I can **ASSURE** you that time travel isn't one of them or I would've traveled back to the Golden Age of **CYBERTRON** and laid a smack-down on the Council the size of _**UNICRON**_ for their bull-headed stubbornness, corruption and greed until they _PLEADED_ for the chance to change and your race wouldn't be **IN** this position in the _**FIRST PLACE!**_

I can understand being angry for what they did; livid to the point of just wanting to take it out on the nearest person that was even **REMOTELY** connected to Sector Seven in any way. But I **WILL NOT** keep _quiet_ and be used as your verbal punching bag: or have you forgotten that **I** was the one that had to rescue the sparklings from _that_, even in the midst of those—those **PROCEEDURES** that those sub-species of humans _DARED_ to perform on them—that I was the one who saw the untold amount of offline sparklings from the '_failures'_ of their experimentation?"

Morwennas voice had steadily wound down throughout the length of her tirade until it was nothing more than tired mumbling, her arm lifting so that Vultus could burrow into her side to try and escape the raw fury in the smaller 'Cons optics, flinching and letting out a nervous, clicking whimper as Frenzy tried to soothe the terrified sparkling.

His slowly bluing optics looked at her as a sense of loss overcame him, pulling in his EM field as he realized that it was flaring wildly, the sparklings that didn't have a ready protector to run to squeezing themselves into the gaps between Barricades front windshield and dash as they tried to escape the terrifying maelstrom of emotions. Frenzy immediately locked his field down as tight as possible as he reached his servo out towards the micro-bot sparklings, clicking plaintively as they tried to press themselves farther into the non-existent space.

"_Slowly_; let them come to you."

He snorted, cursing internally as they stiffened even further.

**:Any ideas?: **

**:Listen to the femme; she's been around more of them longer than any of us.: **

**:Just listen to the squishie so that you can get those scraplets to **_**STOP**_** digging their claws into my interior!: **

"…..How?"

She smiled wearily.

"Talk to them; let them know that the ones you're angry with are _**NOT THEM**_.

I know all too well the—the _trauma_ that comes with believing that your '_caretaker'_ is murderously angry at you for no reason."

All of the 'Cons quieted at the surprisingly—_small_ voice that Morwenna spoke with, none of them wanting to know the reason behind it.

After all; they had plenty of reasons themselves.

Climbing back into Barricades front passenger seat Frenzy reached out a cautious servo, clicking and warbling soothingly to the terrified new-sparks as he let his field extend in waves of _repentance_ and _safety_ and _calm_ to wash over them, struggling to keep it from spiking in agitation as Barricade laughed over the comms.

**:Shut it.: **

He—_cooed_ encouragingly as the little mech-bot slowly unfurled himself from the position he was in, letting out a cautious chirp as he shuffled slightly forward. Frenzy kept himself perfectly still as he waited for the little one to come closer, humming as he reached out a tiny servo to touch the symbiotes comparably larger one before scooting away again. The tiny mech looked over to Morwenna—_needing_ the reassurance of his larger rescuer that she would intervene if anything happened. At her slow smile and nod he hesitantly placed his frame into that silver servo, squeaking in surprise as he was instantly brought up against that spark, relaxing completely as pulses of _love, safety_ and _warmth_ emanated from the spark that had comforted him since the beginning.

Churring softly he snuggled as well as he could into the planes of Frenzys chest, the other two slowly following as it became evident that Frenzy meant no harm.

**:I sent the files to Prime.: **

Morwenna sighed and shook her head, stroking Vultus' helm to try and lull him back into recharge.

**:I hope you at least attached a note that told him to **_**wait**_** until we got to Nellis.: **

**:If for no other reason than to find a place to hide for a few joor; I remember watching Prime once when he was truly angry—I would have rather dealt with Megatron.: **

**:Hn.: **

For once she kept her thoughts on the matter to herself.

**:Do you have Ironhides frequency?:**

**:Nope; but I can hack it pretty easily. Why?: **

**:I have info that he needs to know: have our conversation transmit to Prime as well. **

**Feel free to listen in.: **

Barricade refused to acknowledge the shiver that raced up his vertebral strut as much as he had refused to acknowledge the brief stab of fear that had lanced his spark when the squishie femme was shot, his snarl the only thing keeping either one of his Decepticon—would they be considered neutral now?—brethren from plastering the other squishie across their roadway.

Until they had Primes final approval, the less they interfered, the better.

**:Wadda ya want 'Con?: **

Morwenna raised an eyebrow.

**:Nice to know I'm held in such high regard Ironhide.: **

There was a curious grinding noise before the topkick came back on comms, Frenzy sniggering at the sound. It was synonymous with a human choking on his words.

**:'Wen! Why ahre ya contactin' meh on a 'Con frequency?: **

**:Have you gotten ahold of Arcee and her team yet?: **

There was complete silence from the other end of the comm, Morwenna silently holding up her hand and ticking down the seconds with her fingers.

_3…2…1. _

**:How thah ****FRAG**** would ya know 'bout that?!: **

**:Different dimension, remember? Now; have you contacted them or not?: **

He growled.

**:Not yeht; why would ya wanna know?: **

**:I have information that could save the lives of quite a few Autobots—and some Decepticons as well.: **

**:….Ahm listenin': **

She smirked, leaning down to gather the ghastly visual evidence as she spoke.

**:First off they **_**ARE NOT**_**—I repeat **_**ARE NOT**___**to engage Starscream when he enters Mars' atmosphere; not only do they have a crashed—though mostly repaired—star cruiser with upwards of 150+ drones, **_**THUNDERCRAKER**_** is there along with Hardtop. And while admittedly Hardtop is not that difficult to deal with the two seekers are another matter entirely; only Arcee survives, and **_**THAT'S**_** because Starscream mistakes her as offlined when she is merely passed out. **

**Oh; when he first gets onboard the ship he connects with the ships computers and downloads all of the data he actually had the forethought to steal from Hoover Dam to be sent ahead to the other Decepticons on Cybertron.: **

**:How does he do that?: **

**:While Starscream and his—**_**team**_** were on Earth he had Thundercraker supervising the construction of a Space Bridge—one that he had recently completed.: **

**:….Do ah even WANT ta know what that info was?: **

**:The complete data compilation that Sector Seven had done in their "**_**research**_**" of the Allspark; everything from the dimensionalities and glyphs inlayed into the metal down to the resonant and static frequencies that the field and energy gave out. **

**That information was sent ahead for one purpose; the completion of his newest **_**'Master Plan'**_**.: **

**:…..An' what would that be?: **

She smiled grimly.

**:The construction of a ****NEW**** Allspark.: **

There was complete silence over the comms—aside from a few choked off whines—as the information sunk into the processor of every mech that had access to the comm frequency, Jazz revealing that he had been listening in the entire time with his outburst.

**:Is that seekah a complete and uttah GLICTCH?! Who in their righ' mind would think tha's a GOOD ideah?: **

**:Starscream apparently.: **

**:****OH****; but there's more. **

**After receiving the data and instructions the Decepticons raid the nearest Autobot outpost for '**_**workers'**_** to carve the intricate glyphs into a cube that has a similar mineral composition to the Cube for the Allspark; the names of the captured Autobots are Grindcore, Drudge, Signal Flare, Warpath—and Elita-One.: **

There was a large, piercing blat of static as soon as she had finished saying the femmes name, forcing Morwenna to rip the piece out of her ear until some of the Cybertronian cursing had died down. If they reacted this strongly to Elita being _**CAPTURED**_, she really didn't want to tell them what would happen next—though she would anyways.

**:Uh; Prime? I'm not done yet.: **

**:…..Ironhide, Jazz; let her finish.: **

**:Now—Arcee **_**DOES**_** have just little under a Quartex to contact a small group of Autobots that are hiding out near Simfur; I don't know exactly where, all I know is that it's in some abandoned Autobot training facility within a Cybertronian day from the ruined city-state. **

_**THAT**_** group consists of Clocker, Crosshairs, Wingblade, Skyblast, Strongarm, Armorhide and Divebomb and as far as they know, they're the only surviving Autobot forces on Cybertron—Arcee's the first that they've met since Elita's capture. **

**AFTER**** a Quartex passes Elita and her group manage to finish carving the glyphs onto the new '**_**Allspark'**_**, but they are not let go—no; Starscream as a far more fitting '**_**end'**_** for them. **

…**.He has them attached to the sides of the Cube with leads connected to the various ports on their frames and activates a machine that releases a powerful burst of electricity that extinguishes their sparks all at once, the leads absorbing the energy output of their dying sparks and depositing it in a central storage unit underneath the cube, which then stunts all of that energy in a powerful beam into the cube in the **_**misguided**_** philosophy that it would power the cube enough to create a new Allspark.**

**Though it obviously fails.**

**Clocker's group was on their way to try and save Elita and the others when this happens, Dreadwing attempting to pull a coup against Starscream shortly afterwards; all three factions getting into a fight as Dreadwing tries to escape. Strongarm and Divebomb are killed when Strongarm attempts to steal the very cruiser that Starcream used on Mars after de-activating the Dreadwing drones, Starscream hunting down Dreadwing and ripping out his spark after the ships explosion throws the two back through the space bridge before it implodes on itself.: **

There was complete silence as they tried to comprehend everything that they had been told, Morwenna shifting slightly in her seat—the silence was more unnerving than their cursing.

**:…You have obviously told us all of this for a reason Morwenna; what do you propose we do?: **

**:Have Arcee do an infiltration mission—**_**ALONE**_**. One Autobot—especially a femme as small as her—has a greater chance of going undetected than most of the mechs; especially the ones that are with her right now. She doesn't even need to be **_**ON**_** the cruiser to travel through the bridge as long as she's in RANGE of the transport area. **

**Immediately after landing on Cybertron she should rendezvous with Clocker's team and do a **_**COMMS SILENT**_** mission to steal the cruiser and rescue the captured Autobots, using the remote controls that the cruiser to open the bridge, closing it and immediately destroying the receiving tower once they are once again on Mars: **

**:…You realize that even then there is no guarantee that any of them will survive stealing the ship, let alone rescuing the captured Autobots from their imprisonment.: **

Morwenna sighed and leaned back, rolling her neck to relieve some of the tension in her shoulders as she thought about how to word her answer.

Lives depended on it.

**:I know.**

**Still;…..is it not better to die **_**fighting**_** for your freedom than be sacrificed for a goal not your own?: **

As they sped down the highway towards Nellis Morwenna had to close her eyes to force herself from saying anything else; she had given Optimus all the information she could about the events that would transpire over the next Quartex on Cybertron.

The decision on what to DO with that information….was up to him.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*S ilverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Sil verlight*

Next time on IofC: Sparkling chekup; Negotiating truce ; Prime (and all of the Autobots) blowing a gasket; following Arcee as she sabotages Starscream.

'Till all are one my sparklings!


	13. Meetings and Healing

Fea:…..Alright here's the deal; I can't update as often as I (or any of you) want me to. To counter this when I DO update it will be with chapters that are a minimum of 25 pages long—about 9,000-10,000 words per chapter. I _**hope**_ that this is an acceptable substitute.

And Arcee has been delayed until the next chapter…..(rubs back of head) got caught up in the sparklings.

Sorry.

Now: ppl ta thank! (A/N: I make it a point to reply to ALL of my reviews; even if it's a simple thanks. If you don't want—or can't wait for the chapter—to read all of them skip to the '_finish'_ in all caps. Thank you.)

Angel897: Well here's some more for ya!

AyameKitsune: Here! *thrusts chapter at you*

LGTracy: Vaguely; I have a general idea but I'm not sure how to incorporate him into the story yet. But he WILL show up at some point. Thanks for the worry!

Alalaya21:Why thank you!

Guest: Thank you; this is nowhere near soon but hopefully the length makes up for it!

Lady Syndra: Thanks; it's always a challenge trying to make them more caring (especially the Cons) without losing a core part of their personality.

Cool: Thank you.

Gemava:…..that is actually an **awesome** idea that for some inexplicable reason (I blame Sector Seven) hadn't occurred to me. I will be SURE to use it! Thank you!

WarriorKat21: Yes I live….though my job likes keeping me locked up on floating metal with no internet—or time to write.

XxShadowfangxX: Well I hope you're wait was well worth it!

Guest2: Spoke too soon…there are cute sparklings though.

Lina Marie: I KNOW!...I wish they were real. *pouts*

Mistra Rose: I know there are a LOT of the little ones; I try and describe as many as possible of them in one chapter without cutting the story; and don't worry—once all of their names have been used in the story at least once I will post a list of all of their names and descriptions.

DarkFyreNyx: Thank you! It's always nice to see someone say they like my OC; it's nice to know that they aren't ruining the cannon characters for everybody.

Guest3: Thank you for liking my story! I know this isn't soon but please enjoy!

Flamingfoxviper: Anything to keep my mechs happy! Lol

Guest4: 0_o *slowly hands over chapter* So…much…energy!

New Guest: YESSSSS! My story has ensnared yet another! My updates may be few and far between; but that passion for this story has not abated. It will just take longer than planned to finish. I hope you will stick around for the ride.

Guest5: I hope ya'll don't mind being referred to by numbers 'cause I don't know what else ta do. *More suspense funeral music* You will have to wait a little longer for the blow-up; though I assure you it's right around the corner….

New FanGuest: Creative….nice. I'm guessing your friend is the one above?*points* Don't worry: more cute sparklings in this AND the next chapter…I guarantee it.

Guest6: *laughs* I'm glad you like it.

MysticWriter3018: Let's just say that they haven't found out EVERYTHING yet and they already want to kill them. Imagine what will happen when they read the file? *grins*

Guest6: NOW! I'm updating it now!

I AM NEW: Updating; updating!

Guest7:…I was gone for far too long. Updates now; hopefully I'll hit chapter 20 by Christmas.

Guest8: Now; I'm updating now. It's nice to see how many people still follow this story!

Guest9: Thank you for saying so! Why yes; yes there WILL be an adult seeker soon—who that might be though is anyone's guess!

Transformer Fan: Of course they're in trouble; you'll just have to wait and see exactly HOW much.

TransFanLover: *throws chapter into air like a stack of money and runs away* Take it!

Transform Love: Thank you—here's a gift! *hands over chapter*

Prime Lover: Don't worry; what I have in mind is….judicious and twisted.

Guest10: Thanks!

NewReader: Danke!

LovePrime: Merci!

Transform12345: Efxaristo!

TransformPrime: Xie xie!

Transformer13580:Gracias! Updating now!

IvoryCrawler: lol…glad you're so impressed. Here's more!

Transformer15580: 'Raj is 'Raj and Dino is Dino. I personally have nothing against Dino; but him using shivs instead of a rifle bugs me to no end; he'll probably be used as a separate character entirely.

Scion Nexus Prime:…Thank you; both for the wicked awesome and….yea. It's nice ta hear; thanks!

AutobotReader: Who DOESN'T love sparklings? Here's some more sparkling cuteness for ya!

SparkFanLove: Thanks; I'm glad you like it. As I've said before the explosion isn't quite here; but it's coming.

*FINISHED!*

Fea:…..Wow; so many great reviews! Thank you ; ALL of you! I also want to thank the people who follow and read this story even through you might not always leave a review; any form of support is appreciated!

Now enough of my rambling; ON TO THE STORY!

Astrosecond—.498 seconds

Klik—1.2 minutes

Breem—8.3 minutes

Joor—1 hour

Orn— Cybertronian Day (4.8 days)

Diun— C. Month (121 Days)

Decivorn—C. Year (8.3 years)

Decavorn—C. Century (833 years)

Hekavorn—100,000 C. Years (8,333,333 years)

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*S ilverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Sil verlight*

**:What ahre we gonna do Prime?:**

'_What indeed?' _

Optimus sunk on his shocks as he contemplated all of the information that Morwenna had given him in the past fifteen minutes, air brakes hissing in his alt modes approximation of a sigh as they came upon the gates into Nellis. Especially glad that gaining entrance to the base was going to take a minute on Keller's part—secretly relieved that, for once, _he_ wasn't the one everyone was looking to for final approval—he turned his attention to the part of the problem that bothered him the most; what the humans would term as his '_sister'_.

They were **not** sparked from the same bond; he knew as much about his actual sparkers as the sparklings around him knew of the Allspark, but the ones he called '_Sire'_ and '_Carrier'_—she was all that remained of _either_ generous mechs and he was loath to lose her. But this very same reason is what made him hesitate; while only a few of his upper chain of command knew about the relation between them, he didn't want it to appear that he approved of this venture for no other reason than there might be a _**CHANCE**_ that she could be saved.

#...Orion?#

Optimus welcomed his mates support as the medic reached to him through their bond, megavorns of traveling together allowing the others to pick up on his—thought to be well hidden—stress.

**:We all know tha' ya wouldn' put any of our lives at risk for pers'nal gain Op; but ya know as well as I tha' this could save multiple Cybertronian lives—not just hers.: **

#What Jazz's saying's true Orion; and even if it **WERE** personal, none of us would blame you for wanting to hold on to the last piece of family you had—Primus knows we would do the same.#

#I reserve that kind of possessiveness for you love.#

Optimus couldn't help but smirk at the melting sensations that came through the bond, grateful that his alt mode prevented the others from seeing. Venting to try and loosen some of his cabling he once again went over the information, seeing the wisdom of Jazz's words as he looked at it objectively.

**:….But Jazz makes a good point; Ironhide.: **

**:Yea, Prime?: **

**:Tell Arcee about Morwenna's plan and have the rest of her team proceed to Earth; it will take them a couple of orns to arrive and we will be able to inform the local government and establish a firmer truce within that time-frame.: **

Ironhide sent an affirmative as he readied the data-packet, pausing briefly to gently halt the large sparkling in front of him so that he wouldn't go rolling into anyone.

**:Oh and Prime?: **

**:Yes Jazz?: **

**:…How many times have we told ya ta ****stop**** using bond-speak in the middle of an every-bot convo?!: **

Prime couldn't stop his laugh at that, his bondmate sniggering as some of the more—attentive guards of the base jumped from their position next to him before backing up slightly, a few really looking like they really wanted to poke him with the end of their weapons (only because there were no sticks nearby).

#It's good to hear you laugh again.#

Optimus took a steadying intake of air and started his engine as Keller waved them forward, intakes hitching as Blackout barely gave himself enough lift to clear the fence-line.

**:Morwenna—why didn't Blackout follow human protocol for a vehicle of his make when entering a military installation?: **

There was silence for a few moments as she asked him; after their little '_conference'_ Frenzy had closed all of the comm lines between the 'Cons and the rest of the'bots, Morwenna's ear piece being the only line untouched.

Her voice was wry when she replied.

**:He said, and I quote**_** "You try being the only flyer in a bunch of grounders and see where those infernal squishies force YOU to land when you adhere to their backwards flight plans **__**Prime**__**. And besides; there's less of a chance of the squishies glitching and trying to shoot me—and getting crushed in return—if we're all together."**_

**Apparently bullets sting and the pinging noise they make on his rotors is annoying.:**

**:So~….he entered that way 'cause he didn' want ta get shot at?: **

They could practically hear her shrug.

**:Pretty much….**

**By the way; did you receive the packet Frenzy data-burst you Prime?:**

**:Affirmative; though I would like an explanation as to why there is an attachment that says **_**'Do Not Open Until at Nellis?**_**': **

**:…..Let's just say that it's not something that you should divide your processing power on and leave it at that.:**

Optimus couldn't help but regard the seemingly innocuous packet warily as he followed Keller deeper into the base; what was in it that had Morwenna giving a warning like that? Following Keller into a long, tall hangar Optimus made sure to scan the area for any hidden devices that resembled the ones the blonde femme's men had earlier; not that he didn't trust Keller, but he had far too many experiences with an '_expendable'_ member of the enemies command being used as an instrument for his capture for him to feel completely as ease. It didn't help that the door clanged shut behind them as soon as the last mech was inside the hangar walls, though he was marginally relieved when Keller's car stopped just a short distance in front of him, the man himself exiting a few moments later.

"Colonel; has everyone in here signed a Secrecy Act document and been relieved of their weapons?"

"Yes sir."

"Good; Ms. Morrigan!"

Optimus '_watched'_ as Morwenna stepped out of Barricades alt mode, whispering something gently to the sparkling inside before turning her attention to Keller.

"Yes Mr. Secretary?"

"Would you please make sure that everyone has exited the _'specialized vehicles'_?"

"Of course."

She nodded once before turning around, bending down to carefully settle Vultus onto one hip and put the re-packed bag on the ground as she re-activated her comm.

**:Alright; I'm not going to go around to EVERY. SINGLE. ALT-MODE. so I'm going to ask that everyone that HAS someone in their alt mode to open their driver's side door. Please.: **

Ironhide, Jazz, Hot Rod and Mirage all popped open their doors—Morwenna glared at those who gasped as Vultus and Frenzy came into view—, patiently waiting until all of their human companions had exited their forms before closing them again.

"Everyone's out now, Mr. Secretary."

Keller nodded before shifting his attention towards Prime, suppressing a smile of amusement as he spoke.

"While this may not be the best of accommodations that my government can provide you with it **is** the best we can do on such short notice: it fulfills both **our** need of having something relatively secure for our nations National Security while providing your people with enough height and space to stretch out comfortably.

Now; I am sure that you would like to get your people settled before our meeting with the President later this evening—Prime."

Optimus took that as his queue to transform, ignoring the buzz of shocked humans behind him as he knelt to look at Keller eye-to-optic.

"This space is more than adequate for a temporary arrangement, thank you Mr. Secretary."

Rising to his pedes as Keller nodded in agreement he turned to face his Autobots and three Decepticons, straightening his shoulder struts and linking his servos behind himself as he looked over them all.

"Autobots; _TRANSFORM_!"

There was a great canopy of sound as parts split and re-arranged themselves, everybot seeming to move in a choreographed dance as they twisted and bent into their bi-pedal form before standing at attention in front of Prime when they were done, the two larger 'Cons standings slightly off to one side as they looked around with feigned disinterest.

**:Behave professionally.: **

"Jazz."

"Yea Prime?"

"I would like you and Ironhide to attend the meeting with myself and the Secretary of Defense with this nations President; until then I would like you to run a quick perimeter check to make sure that there is nothing that could be inadvertently used to harm the sparklings."

"On it Prime."

Ironhide answered with a roll of his cannons and a sharp nod before going to the opposite end of the hanger as Jazz, both of them carefully maneuvering their way through a stunned group of military personnel on the way to their objective.

#And what—_exactly_—am I supposed to do while you're in a meeting?#

Optimus glanced over to where Ratchet was standing, subtly raising an optic ridge as he noticed his bondmates crossed arms and wide stance. He didn't want to risk his near infamous temper rising to the surface with so many humans around.

#You and I _both_ know that you won't be happy until you've inspected and personally compiled a base-line medical record for each of the new-sparks; I am merely opening up the only conceivable slot of inactivity that we are likely to receive in the near future.#

Ratchet huffed as he straightened and moved towards the transport, the underlying warmth negating the bite of his words.

#Since you know me sooo well; I'm just going to be over here.#

Optimus shook his helm at the medic's sense of humor, looking down as Keller called up to him.

"Yes Mr. Secretary?"

"Please; just Keller will do.

If you'll follow me; we're actually going to meet with the President in a different hangar—not because of any problems on our end, but because the Secret Service has a tendency to be… _overzealous_ when it comes to protecting the President."

Prime nodded in understanding.

"I have no problem allowing them this small measure of security as long as it does not impede our negotiations."

"I'll make sure that it doesn't; now, I actually have some questions and concerns to bring up before the start of the meeting—that is; if you're wiling?"

Optimus dipped his helm, motioning for Keller to show him the alternate location as he commed for Jazz and Ironhide to follow.

"Of course."

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*S ilverlight*Silverlight*

"_YOU'RE IT!" _

"_CHEAT! YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO FLY!" _

Morwenna chuckled as she watched the sparklings—and Tom—in their game of tag, waving at Ratchet as she noticed the medic walking over.

"Need something?"

"Yes, actually. Could you call the sparklings over for a baseline exam? Not all at once; Primus knows how restless they'd become if they were forced to be still long enough for me to examine them individually."

"…..Yea; let's **NOT** find out shall we? Now did you want someone specific or are you willing to start with just anyone?"

Ratchet opened his mouth to answer before pausing, seeming to consider something before re-focusing on her.

"If you could tell me the designation of the sparkling still in stasis we shall consider him the first."

A worried look crossed her face at that, turning to look at Ratchet fully as she stared up into his face.

"His name's Hornet; he's going to be okay, right?"

He nodded.

"Of course; admittedly a damage field stabilizer is something only a qualified medic should deal with because of its close proximity to the spark but it was a relatively simple fix—all we are waiting for now is for his systems to fully heal the imbalance before he will come out of stasis."

"Well that's a relief."

Both of them turned to look at Michael as he came up next to them, a shy Carbon digging his helm into his adopted Sire's shoulder as he noticed the medic's stare.

"You were supporting Hornet earlier were you not?"

"I was; I just wish I could've done more for him. After all; it's my fault he was hurt in the first place."

Ratchet's optics narrowed at the statement: Morwenna looked at him, horrified.

"How can you even _say_ that?"

"It's true; if I had just kept a closer eye on him I could have—"

"That is **NO** reason to blame yourself and you know it. Even with the four of you there were still _nearly_ forty sparklings to look after—we're lucky that this is _ALL_ that's happened, especially considering his propensity for wandering off."

"And what if it hadn't **been** him, _hmm?! _What if it had been Carbon—or Vultus instead? Could you honestly tell me that you would still say that I wasn't at fault?!"

"…._Yes_; Carbon because you love him as dearly as if he were your own flesh and blood—I know nothing would harm him unless you were dying in a gutter somewhere. As for Vultus…"

She turned to look over at said sparkling as he played with the others, smiling softly at the care-free joy that was on those little faceplates.

"I can't say that I wouldn't be upset, but I wouldn't blame a man who gave up a career and nearly his _life_ for them; you wouldn't be so careless, even if it was a sparkling that no one had yet adopted.

Now the person _responsible_, however…."

Michael couldn't help but laugh at the mischievous grin on her face, Carbon reaching up to pat his Sire's cheek comfortingly before timidly glancing up at Ratchet, ducking again when the medic smiled down at him.

"Sorry; he's really shy when meeting new people."

"_*snort* _Ya think? It took nearly **two weeks** for Ruth and James to be able to pick him up for any length of time and he _STILL_ freaks out if Tom gets too close to him and Michael isn't there.

Then again…I hafta say that it's pretty normal considering everything that he went through; that they _all_ went through."

Ratchet frowned: that's just it; he didn't _**KNOW**_ what they all went through. And he highly doubted that asking her in front of all the sparklings was the wisest of decisions—he didn't want them to relive a trauma so intense that it caused their vocal processors and translation software to activate three decivorns _**EARLIER**_ than normal. Not to mention that their motor and cognitive skills shouldn't be at the levels they so clearly were for another _four_. He could continue on the vein of discrepancies of these sparklings compared to those sparked on Cybertron but ruthlessly cut himself off, for that was the very problem—they were Earth-based sparklings, not Cybertronian ones. Who knows what the Allspark had to change about them just to ensure their survival in a world that—to the Allspark anyway—was completely antagonistic to its species?

Shaking his helm to get rid of the thought process—that had taken less than half a klik—he gestured down at the shy little mechling in the human mechs arms, readying his organic repair kit as he noticed that leg wound still hadn't been properly attended to.

"And just what _IS_ the little scraplets name?"

"Carbon."

He raised a ridge.

"Why name him Carbon—or Hornet for that matter?"

"Cause of the way they look; Carbon is named after texturized carbon steel because his plating looks exactly like it and Hornet is named as such because his helm shape mimics that of the actual insect.

You'll find that a lot of the sparklings names are based on their appearance; the other half is based on their personality or something their capable of that is unique to them, though there are a few exceptions."

He nodded; at least the names made a little more sense now, though he also supposed some of them would be—strange compared to normal sparkling names because of the human element thrown in; they could make leaps of logic that astounded even him.

"Well then; Michael."

"Yes Ratchet?"

"Would Carbon remain calm enough for me to examine him outside of your hold or do I need to work around you?"

Michael thought about it for a minute, Morwenna getting temporarily dragged away as James dragged her over to meet his son—one of the 1st Lt's that were in the building.

"It depends on if I'm in his line of sight or not; if you did it on the ground there wouldn't be a problem—in your hand however…."

'_Rolling'_ his optics Ratchet lowered a servo onto the ground, an annoyed snort escaping him when he didn't immediately get it.

"Are you waiting for a—an invitation or what? Get on."

**: Never thought I'd see the day you actually tried NOT to curse Hatchet.: **

The medic glared over at the amused golden mech, optics trying to burn a hole through those arrogant faceplates.

**:You are SOOO fragging lucky I'm surrounded by sparklings right now Sunstreaker.: **

The frontliner just smiled complacently before skating off and Ratchet huffed irritably; how two of these sparklings could adopt him as their carrier was beyond him.

Calibrating his scanners for their lowest setting he did a broad spectrum sweep across the tiny frame, frowning as it came back with barely repaired plating on wounds that should have been repaired three diuns ago—somebody had been harvesting his repair nanites too quickly for them to be replaced and he grimaced at the continual, aching pain that the sparkling must have been under for the past however long they had been out of that fragging Sectors clutches.

He switched to a more in depth scan while he grumbled silently, optics cycling to their widest setting as he went through the data.

**%:THOSE FRAGGIN', GLITCH-BRAINED, PIT-SPAWN SLAGGING **_**HUMANS!:**_**% **

Every bot jumped at the unexpected outburst and turned to stare at him in surprise as Morwenna came running up to him, comm piece in one hand while the other rubbed at her ear furiously before she put it back in—fragger nearly blew out her eardrum.

"What's going on Ratchet?"

**:Those—those Primus damned **_**FRAGGERS**_** removed part of his slagging **_**SPARK CASING**_**—****HIS SPARK CASING! ****I'm surprised he hasn't gone into **_**STASIS-LOCK**_** from the pain or loss of frakkin' spark energy through the fragged up slag that they put in ****place**** of the normal proto-metal!:**

Morwenna closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose; and to think, this was only the beginning.

Ratchet had to forcefully stamp down the coding that demanded that he crush the two Sector agents responsible as he refocused on the mechling in his servo, derma thinning at the concerned look that Michael was giving him.

"What's wrong?"

"…I'm going to have to ask you to coax his chest plates open so that I can get at his spark casing; there is a _significant_ breach in the Cybertronian metal that creates it and the—_inferior_ containment materials that are in place are about to fail; I need to fix it before it does and his spark **dissipates** from the sudden trauma."

Michael paled dramatically before he was gently maneuvering Carbon onto his back, telling him what was planned and stroking his helm to keep him calm as Ratchet readied the limited supply of un-printed protoform metal, mixing it with a large—for the sparkling—dose of repair nanites that he programmed to go into overdrive for the next orn before settling down to their normal programming.

"Hurry Ratchet; I can't keep him calm for long."

Swiftly transforming one of his digits into a miniaturized injector Ratchet inserted the tip into the semi-viscous metal that surrounded the spark. His spark clenched in self-loathing as the tiny mechling let out a raw keen of pain before trying to fight out of Michaels hold, tears running down the humans face as he tried to comfort his sparkling through the pain. Those tiny chestplates closed with an audible squeal as soon as Ratchet had removed his finger, Carbon burrowing as much as he possibly could into Michael's chest while clicking and shaking horribly, flinching away as Ratchet tried to run a finger down his back strut soothingly.

Venting quietly Ratchet lowered Michael to the ground and backed away once the human had scrambled off his servo, barely controlling his wince as he noticed the wary look the remaining sparklings regarded him with.

And **that** wasn't taking the humans horrified surprise into account.

"Will he be alright?"

Ratchet was jerked out of his self-loathing to stare at the pearlescent-white sparkling that was looking up at him intently, the sapphire-blue optics underneath a grey chevron melting him in a way he didn't know was possible.

"Of course little one; unfortunately it's a proven fact that sometimes pain must be caused to heal an injury that would cause—unfortunate complications."

The sparkling was silent for so long after that Ratchet began to fear that he had used an explanation that was far above the sparkling current extrapolation abilities, mouth already open to try and explain it more simply when those optics looked back up at him uncertainly.

"…Is that like when caretaker had to re-brake her finger because it set wrong?"

Ratchet stiffened in surprise even as he made a note to more thoroughly examine the femme later—it would seem that the incident earlier today was not a singularity when it came to her—, a slight smile crossing his derma as he nodded his helm in affirmation.

"Exactly.

Now forgive me my rudeness, but I don't believe I've learned your designation yet little one. Would you be willing to share it with me?"

He smiled and Ratchet couldn't help but widen his own grin in response; the sparklings enthusiasm was infectious.

"My name's Apollo; what's yours?"

"Ratchet;…Apollo?"

"Yea?"

That chevroned helm tilted to one side in mild confusion, the action only serving to melt the CMO's spark just a little bit more.

"May I examine you?"

"…Could I watch you with everyone else?"

Ratchet found himself nodding his helm before he could help himself.

"Of course."

Smiling brilliantly Apollo clambered onto the proffered servo before him, giggling as the scanners swept across his frame. Ratchets spark eased in both happiness and relief; while he was running a little low on some trace minerals that were necessary for his development, it wasn't anything that a couple of laced rust sticks wouldn't cure. Thanking Primus that there was nothing else wrong with the little one he turned to Morwenna as he made sure the little sparkling had a good purchase on one shoulder, nodding his helm in the direction of the other sparklings as he spoke.

"I understand that they are wary of me, but are there any others that you believe to be a priority?"

Morwenna narrowed her eyes in thought as she scanned the abnormally subdued sparklings, widening them a second later as she noticed a certain set of fliers darting through the rafters.

"_**Silverbolt! Freefall!**_ Get yourselves, your gestalt **AND** your trine down here _**NOW!"**_

Said sparklings froze in place before diving to land in front of her, optics staring at the floor as they fidgeted nervously.

"_What_ have I said about how _high_ you are allowed to fly?"

There was silence for a time as they used their various bonds to try and get someone to speak, Morwenna looming over them sternly as she waited for a reply. Finally Skydive took it upon himself to answer as he dared to glance up, flinching minutely at the impassive look on her face.

"That—that we weren't supposed to fly higher than the tallest mech here."

"And why is that?"

"…..So that if something happened and we started to fall they could catch us without hurting us before we hit the ground."

Morwenna nodded sharply.

"Now; what do you think a suitable punishment would be?"

There was a **LOT** of fidgeting at that question, Skylight being the one that answered this time.

"Umm;….no rust sticks for two duin?"

Morwenna couldn't help but soften at the absolutely defeated tone in his voice, stance relaxing completely as she crouched in front of them.

"Does everyone else agree that that's a fair punishment?"

Slowly all eight helms nodded in agreement, most of them jumping in surprise as she leaned forward and hugged them tightly.

"You guys know that I'm not _angry_ at you right? That I worry and put rules in place because I _**DON'T**_ want you to get hurt?"

Ratchet watched at how quickly Morwenna was to reassure the sparklings as they hugged her once again, eight different helms nodding in understanding even as those multiple pairs of wings relaxed in relief, orbital strut rising at the action. Even though he had seen it enough times that it should no longer surprise him Ratchet was still stunned at the level of trust that the sparklings—both consciously and not—placed in her and it made him more determined than ever to find out what had been done to them once he could corner her alone for a moment.

"Good; now, seeing as how neither Sunstreaker or Hot Rod has had any experience with seeker frames before I believe that you guys should go next—after all, we don't know if your wings _'grew back'_ correctly."

**~I wouldn't make a mistake as deficient as that.~ **

Morwenna was barely able to keep herself from jumping in surprise.

'_You could warn a human when you're about to do that. And I know you wouldn't; but it gives Ratchet the opening he needs to ask some questions I'm sure he's just been dying to say out loud.'_

Ratchet froze; surely she hadn't meant it the way she said it.

"Grew back?"

"Yes; when they were first rescued none of them had _any_ wings to speak of and Redwings rotaries were completely non-existent.

It wasn't until an unknown voice—that I now know is the Allspark—contacted me shortly after Freefall had thrown himself off a roof that we had any idea what was wrong, let alone how to fix it."

You could've heard a pin drop with how quiet it had gotten during her explanation, some of the Airmen who had been brave enough to interact with the little flyers paling dramatically—they had seen how sensitive those wings were when _LIGHTLY_ gripped, but for them to be removed completely….

Ratchet had to actually offline his optics for a good klik, sending a hastily pulse of #later# down the bond as his anger became great enough for Optimus to pick up on it before restricting the flow, restoring his sight once he was reasonably certain that he could control his temper—though that didn't stop him from cursing up a storm over the comms.

Morwenna—for her part—was secretly glad that none of that was directed at her; some of that sounded like it would _**HURT**_….and what the frag was a Kendorian swamp monster?

"Trine first; get up on to my servo younglings—it's not _you_ I'm irritated with."

Freefall and Skylight hesitated for an astrosecond as they looked up at him uncertainly, letting out a blat of surprised static as Starfire pushed them into the medics servo impatiently before climbing on as well. Raising them up to optic level Ratchet made sure to explain the basics of what he was doing to an attentive Apollo as he did an in-depth scan on the seeklets, modulating his field to be calm and soothing instead of the barely controlled spikes of murderous anger it had been before, taking note of individual designations and color schemes as he compiled their files.

It took him a few breems—mostly because he had scanned their wings five times before he was satisfied with the readouts—to finish with them, a soft vent escaping him as everything reported back in working order.

"Well I can **definitely** detect left-over traces of Allspark energy at the base of their wings and the core of their spinal structures, but if you hadn't told me about their '_lack'_ of extremities I would have never been able to tell that they had been removed in the first place; though I would like to scan the other flyers to make absolutely sure."

**~He needn't bother.~ **

Morwenna raised an eyebrow as she watched Silverbolt, his gestalt and Redwing all clamber up onto Ratchets servo, Fireflight letting out a squeal at the scanners tickling sensation as it washed over him.

'_Arrogant much?' _

She got the distinct impression of a smug grin before it answered.

**~I believe you would call it **_**'confidence in my abilities'**_**.~**

She rolled her eyes; barely a vessel for an hour and it was already developing an attitude—and getting more talkative.

_***chuckle* **_**I haven't been able to readily interact with anyone for **_**hekavorns**_**; excuse me for exercising that right now that I've been given it.~ **

'…_.Just don't do it while I'm in the middle of a conversation with someone else alright?' _

It chuckled again.

**~No promises.~ **

_Wonderful_; it was now official—she corrupted the Allspark.

Shaking her head to dismiss the behavior it was displaying she concentrated on Ratchet, an involuntary grin crossing her features as she noticed the pale yellow frame of a pouting Sunstream in his servo.

"Alright femmeling; I'm going to let you down now but if I even so much as _suspect_ that you've been running on your leg before that fracture is fully healed I _**will**_ hold you captive in my carrying chamber until it **DOES**—do I make myself clear?"

Sunstream nodded her helm slowly before she was let down, making a big show of walking as slow as possible so that the emergency yellow medic wouldn't follow through on his threat. Morwenna let out a snort of bemusement as Ratchet turned to her, eyes swiftly picking out his next patient.

"Airblast!"

A slightly taller sparkling with thick forearms looked over at the call of his designation, swiftly moving over to Morwenna's side once he realized that it was her who called while the two sparklings he was playing with followed at a safe distance.

"Yes Caretaker?"

She motioned up at Ratchet, pushing forward with her explanation when he opened his mouth to object.

"You're next; I know you've said that the gash on your protoform doesn't hurt but I would like you to get it looked at—if for no other reason than it will make _me_ worry _less_."

Airblast took a deep vent of air before nodding in consent as he hauled himself into the medics' servo, optics roving listlessly as the scans washed over his frame.

Ratchet—for his part—was able to control his inevitable anger at the damage done to the small sparkling to a greater degree; just because he **wanted** to go on a _murderous rampage_ against the humans didn't mean that the sparklings needed to see _OR_ feel it.

"You're lucky your lower lumbar structure hasn't given out yet Airblast—while the initial cut may not have been that deep, time and a lack of treatment has nearly eroded your protoform all the way through; I'm amazed that you can still function, given the pain you must be in."

The small 'bot shrugged dismissively.

"Who's going to make sure we're all secure when caretaker isn't with us if I don't?"

Morwenna smiled sadly.

"That's what Hot Rod, Sunstreaker, James, Ruth, and Michael are for dear-spark; Ratchet and the others as well now that they are here."

"But they weren't always there—**YOU** weren't always there and _someone_ had to take care of the little-sparks while we were waiting to be rescued."

Nobody had anything to say for a long moment; Morwenna had to take a long, deep breath to keep her voice from wavering when she spoke.

"You're right—we **WEREN'T** always there and that alone is reason enough for need for security; for you to feel like you had to ensure the safety of the others.

**But**; we **ARE** here _NOW_—we can't undo the damage done to you by your unsecure state, but we **CAN** provide the security you need **NOW** so that those things can no longer happen; and we can help you heal from that unsecure time and ensure that those responsible are never able to harm you—or anyone else—ever again.

You've had to be strong for so long Airblast; let us be strong for you now."

There were energon tears pooling in those optics—and he had to keep a few of his own from forming—as Ratchet silently flash-welded a piece of raw protoform into the gash so that it could be integrated into the structure, gently lowering him into the femme's arm as he began to sob, tears trailing down her own cheeks as she sought to comfort the distraught mechling.

"Ratchet?"

#Ratchet?#

The medic was shaken out of his rather depressing—and murderous—thoughts by Apollo and his bondmate, optics turning towards the white sparkling even as he reached out to Optimus.

#...They've been through so much Orion; how could anyone want to _harm_ someone so young?#

"What is it Apollo?"

"Airblast will be ok; right?"

Ratchet glanced down at the amber sparkling in Morwenna's arms, relieved to note that his sobs had died down to the occasional whimper.

"I think he will be as long as your caretaker is here."

The mechling nodded.

"Good."

Prime, however, had no answer for his bondmate and could only offer a wordless burst of _comfort/love/concern/understanding/empathy_ as the medic refocused himself on the two sparklings that were sadly staring at the miserably huddled form of Airblast, only turning their attention towards him when he extended his field over them softly.

"What are your designations little ones?"

They looked at each other before answering, their mismatched blue/yellow optics slightly unsettling.

The pale lavender femme went first.

"My name is Castra."

"Mine's Blindside."

Ratchet nodded.

"Is there anything that you can tell me ahead of time about what may be wrong with you?"

"We have each other's right optic; the—the agents that held us wanted to know if they would still work when transplanted into a different frame; both get helm-aches every once in a while.

The optic I got from Castra actually shorts out every once in a while; I got my designation from a short 'cause it's really hard to avoid things on that side when I can't see them."

"Do you have the same problem Castra?"

She shook her helm negatively, a brief look of discomfort flitting across her face as Ratchet scanned her even as he reached to pick up the dull grey sparkling.

"It feels weird."

Ratchets derma quirked in a half-smile.

"Not everyone likes the '_invasive'_ feeling that even the most basic of canner levels can cause; even fewer find it enjoyable like Fireflight did."

She nodded in understanding as he scanned Blindsides' cranial unit before moving on to the rest of his frame, spark unclenching at the relatively minor break in one of the optical sensory cables.

"There's definitely a small break in one of the sensory cables that make up your ocular bundle; thankfully it is a relatively easy fix, though I will need to open up part of your helm to fix it."

Asymmetric optics looked up at him uncertainly.

"It won't hurt like it did with Carbon; will it?"

Ratchet huffed.

"No; unlike him you do not suffer an injury to your spark chamber OR protoform; either injury is very painful and no amount of blockers will lessen the pain. With you however I just need to deaden the sensors around that optic for a few breem while I work on it and you'll be good as new."

Blindsides features lit up in relief as he relaxed into the medics servo, barely moving when Ratchet removed the plating from the right side of his helm to gently switch out the tiny cable for a new one, having the mechling online the optic and put it through a couple of tests before he was satisfied that it was in working order.

After releasing the two of them Ratchet glanced at Morwenna; she was still trying to fully soothe Airblast and he didn't want to disturb her, helm whipping down in surprise as he felt a tapping against his pede and found Frenzy staring up at him.

"C-could y-ou check h-him next?"

The small symbiote held up an even smaller micro-bot for inspection even as Barricade and Blackout came to stand behind them, the sparklings that they had first arrived with—minus the white femmeling that Jazz had seemed to take a liking to—gathered in their arms or around their pedes. Their looks plainly stated that the only reason they were being this cooperative and stepping forward of their own volition was because of they worried for the sparklings—and he better not say anything about it.

"Of course; what's his designation?"

Frenzy almost seemed to hesitate before he told him, an inexplicable softness to his movements as he carefully stepped onto Ratchets servo.

"Hypernet; h-his des-signations-s Hypernet-t."

**:I could fix that for you as well you know.: **

The symbiote stared at him in obvious surprise as he scanned the tiny micro-bot, Ratchet blinking serendipitously at the newness of the small spark before turning his full attention to the 'Con.

"W-why?"

He rolled his optics.

"Because my coding as a medic demands that I heal all I may find injured, no matter the faction, caste or species."

**:Even if half of them ARE glitch-heads.: **

Barricade raised a ridge.

"And what about when _you_ attack **us**?"

"I rarely attack without provocation; when I do it is usually because I have injured nearby that need protection or self-defense because **you** think it's a good idea to mess with a combat medic in the middle of a fight—just because I fix instead of destroy doesn't mean I can't get in a good hit or two."

The black-and-white quieted to think about his words as a data cable extended from Ratchet's wrist in a clear show of trust and invitation; trust that Frenzy wouldn't hack him the moment they uplinked and an invitation for Frenzy to trust him with his vocal routines in return.

A sharp nod from the symbiote had him clicking into position at the medical port located at the base of the cranial unit, patiently waiting for firewalls to be dropped and handshake protocols exchanged before diving into the coding for his vocal processors, ridge raising at the amount of human-born virus' that bogged down the coding even as he started the medical routine to remove the rather primitive lines of code.

"What in Primus did you do; go diving in a cyber cess-pool? There must be over thirty of these sl—stupid little '_Trojans'_ interspersed through here—and that's only **ONE** of the code-types I've found."

As immersed in the symbiotes code as he was he was able to determine Frenzy's underlying petulance even as he glared up at him.

"S-stupid s-squishie _"w-web pag-pages"_ are ful-l of t-them; n-not my fa-ault th-hat they weren't-t marked."

Ratchet rolled his optics.

"That's why you **SCAN** first and update your firewalls regularly: even _PRIME_ does this and he has nothing to **DO** with data collection! Use that thing inside your helm you call a processor every once in a while before your idiocy causes it to glitch from too many _**'squishie'**_ viruses'….

…..You can re-boot your vocal processor now and leave once you prove to me that it's **not** a _glitched up pile of_…of broken parts."

"The sparkling?"

"He's fine; going to need his first intake of energon soon but that is normal for a spark as new as his."

Frenzy nodded as he was lowered to the floor, striking off in the direction of the well-worn transport as a confused, wide-opticed sparkling was shoved in front of Ratchets faceplates.

"Him next."

"_Blackout_; be nice to the sparkling—you haven't even named him yet."

All three mechs looked down to where Morwenna was walking back towards them with Vultus resituated on her hip, Barricade relaxing as he noticed the amber sparkling from earlier curled up in Hot Rods servos.

"Bellātor; even named his symbiotic ohm-spider Swiftstep because the little scraplet's fast when he wants to be.

And the only reason I was being '_rough'_—HUMAN—, was because the new-spark is practically recharging on his pedes and I wanted him to get checked out **BEFORE** he slipped into recharge."

Morwenna grinned even as she gently lowered Vultus to the floor, Blackout rolling his optics at the mischievous gleam in her eyes as she straightened again.

"Alright, alright; _geez_—you Decepticons can't take friendly ribbing can you?"

"Considering that most '_ribbing'_ that we've been subjected to has been decidedly **UN**friendly I can't say we have."

"Well we'll just have to change that; won't we?

Now if you'll excuse me I actually must request that Vultus be next—it seems that the President is being decidedly stubborn on certain matters and Prime is not '_aware'_ enough of human culture to make understandable comparisons.

The sparklings are one such matter."

Ratchet quickly pulsed Optimus to make sure that everything was alright, getting a pulse of _frustration/confusion/forced calm_ in return, carefully picking up the small silver sparkling immediately afterward so that he could run his scans, frowning at the mechlings elevated spark energy.

"Everything seems to be in working order except for the excess energy in his spark; it's almost as if…"

"As if WHAT Ratchet?"

The medic shook his helm pensively.

"It's as if someone used a high voltage current to attempt to re-start his spark, though he is far too young for a spark condition that would require that kind of treatment."

Vultus began to chirp agitatedly as soon as Ratchet finished his sentence, reaching desperately towards Morwenna; **running** towards her as soon as the medic had put him down, burying his helm into the side of her neck as she scooped him up onto one hip.

She looked up at the gathered mechs solemnly.

"Perhaps I should tell you how I found him."

Ratchet could only stare at the intensely serious femme as he slowly nodded his helm; he had a feeling that none of them were going to take what she had to say very well.

"I had just finished falling down a vertical piece of duct-work when I first heard his scream; at first I didn't know what it was because it startled me so badly after the tomb-like quietness of the rest of that particular building, but I quickly put two-and-two together.

Wielding the screwdriver I had been using to mark my way like a knife I slowly crept down the hallway towards his cry; what I saw made me want to _kill_ the—the '_**humans'**_,"

Barricade was surprised—and amused at the level of venom she _sneered_ the designation of her race with; it would seem that she hated members of her own species as much as he did certain Autobots. He wondered what the story behind **THAT** was.

"that were in the room.

Vultus was strapped down to an examining table by four strips of metal with crude, mechanical '_pincers'_ bussing with electricity ominously over his helm; there were _tubes_ connected to his main energon lines that were slowly siphoning all of the pink liquid _**OUT**_ of his frame—the plating around his spark-chamber and abdomen removed completely.

The lead '_scientist'_ that was conducting the—the '_testing'_ was annoyed that **DESPITE** his predicted outcomes Vultus' spark remained stubbornly resistance to change; in a fit at the fact that it wasn't going his way he **ORDERED** his assistant to up the voltage and amperage to the same amount that we use in our _**ELECTRIC CHAIRS**_ and apply it to his spark to see how long he could survive—completely _aware_, completely _capable_ of _**FEELING**__ Every. __Single__. __**Thing**_ that they had done to him since the _beginning_…..

Needless to say I lost it; rushed into the room and shoved the head scientist into the pincers while jumping onto the others back, smashing his face into the console until he stopped moving.

That was the first time I had actually killed somebody; but I **CANNOT** bring myself to feel guilty—not knowing what could've happened to** MY SPARKLING **if I had hesitated even a _second_.

I would rather **DIE** than let _HIM_—let _ANY OF THEM_ go through what they were rescued from; what you hear—what you **HEARD** is barely the tip of the ice-berg when it comes to all of the immoral things done to them in the condemned name of human _progression_."

She took a deep breath at the end of her tirade, shoulders stiffly lowering and face becoming a mask of cool distain before she spoke again.

"I asked Frenzy to decrypt a computer tower I managed to obtain from that base and send a copy of it to Prime once he was done, though I also asked that a note be attached that he should wait until we were here _AFTER_ his meeting with the President to actually open it.

I can ask him to send the same to you though I ask _YOU_ to wait until you've finished checking all of the sparklings before opening it; I left the visuals with Michael should you feel strong enough to look at them.

Now; if you'll excuse me, I have a President to sway."

Morwenna left all Cybertronians who had heard her in a deadly brewing silence as she strode towards the hanger doors, features stonily set as she tried to repress all of her anger—it was the _LAST_ thing she needed when trying to convince the nations President that the Autobots meant no harm.

Blackout had to use every last ounce of self-restraint he had to keep himself from causing the same destruction he did at Quatar; not that he doubted that he could accomplish it, but because he was positive that some of the sparklings would be caught in the cross-fire before they could be removed to safety—and that was the last thing he wanted. Drawing a deep in-vent of air he gently—if firmly—guided Bellātor forward once more, making sure that he was in the medics hands before turning his attention to the quietly seething Barricade.

**:Don't do anything that might get us banned from the sparklings Barricade.: **

The frontliner snorted at that.

**:Please; like I would give these slaggin' half-glitched Autobots the satisfaction.: **

**:We surrendered to these **_**'half-glitched' **_**Autobots if you recall.: **

The fierce grin that appeared on those angled faceplates unnerved the rotary; whatever the black-and-white was thinking was bound to cause problems one way or another.

**:Oh but we didn't; we surrendered to the human ****femme**** if you recall, and it's only because ****SHE**** asked that we try and behave that I haven't started popping the heads off these disgusting fleshlings. And I'm sure that if it weren't for the sparklings she'd let me.: **

Blackout had to concede to his fellow Decepticons line of processing; _MORWENNA_ was the one who had given them a chance at a different function—a chance to interact with the sparklings at an unrestricted level. He was certain that if it had been left to the Autobots they would've never even _KNOWN_ about the sparklings, let alone be given a chance to change…..and all _THREE_ Decepticons would probably now be offline.

He nodded once—his loyalty lay with the femme; the Autobots had yet to prove themselves.

Exchanging the nearly recharging SUV for the two micro-femmes—which had been named Venia and Tuērī—along with the four-armed mechling—Quasar—he gently led the new-spark to the hastily fortified part of the hangar, casting a significant glance in Jazz's, Hot Rod's and Sunstreaker's direction once the large sparkling was settled.

"You three should get your own charges examined; while I expect no problems from the little femmeling since her spark is as new as the other four Barricade and I have been guarding, the others should be scanned to eliminate any potential problems; after all, we don't know what was all done to them, though I think you'd agree that if it's anything like what Vultus and Carbon went through they should get medical attention sooner rather than later."

**:An' why shou'd we trust anythin' **_**YOU**_** say 'Con?: **

He glanced over at the black topkick.

**:Because the human femme would agree with me.: **

The Autobots were surprised at his answer, a tense silence hanging over them until Ironhide snorted dismissively.

"Go; Ah'll make sure they don't trah any funny bus'ness."

"Because we're _so_ afraid of you _'hide_.

The medic says to stop stalling and send someone over already; he just received the data packet from Frenzy and he wants to finish as quickly as possible in order to process the information contained in it."

They all watched the pseudo-cop walk towards the transport with three of the new-sparks before Sunstreaker threw his servos up in exasperation, moving towards Ratchet even as he shot an annoyed glare at the rest of the Autobots.

**:**_**Oh for the love of—!**_** Would you two get a move on already; just because it was a **_**'Con **_**that suggested it doesn't make it any less true; unless you're willing to put the sparklings through potential pain just to prove a point?: **

Jazz looked up sharply.

**:Ah course not!: **

**:Then stop acting like a bunch of slag-helmed Wreckers and get your afts ****OVER HERE!****: **

Hot Rod could help but laugh at the irony of it all as he followed the golden frontliner; here was one of their most volatile warriors berating _THEM_ for acting like petulant sparklings.

Sunstreaker grumbled to himself as he opened his carrying chamber, gently pulsing waves of _awake/patience/soothing/promise sleep after_ over his twins before gently removing them, the inverted frames sluggishly powering up so that they could be examined before falling back into recharge.

Sounddrive started letting out sounds of distress the moment he left his carriers servo and soothing EM field, only the safety of his brothers arm around his slim shoulders and Sunstreakers' comforting trill keeping him calm enough for Ratchet to scan him, though the moment the medic was done he was reaching desperately for the golden warrior with tiny sapphire blue servos. Humming gently Sunstreaker picked him up and held him near his spark; Lightwave wanted to prove he was mature enough to be a youngling and stubbornly remained in the medics' servo, even though both mechs could practically feel the _longing_ pulsing through his field.

"So what's the diagnosis Ratch?"

"Physically there is nothing wrong with them—well, nothing wrong that a few supplement packs wouldn't fix. It's the psychological that worries me; they remind me of you and Sideswipe when you first came to us."

Sunstreaker had to consciously restrain himself from flinching; those weren't times he liked to remember.

"It isn't something they like to talk about Ratch; even **I** didn't find out about it until the _creator/creation_ bond was established between us."

"Carrier; _don't_."

Sunstreaker smiled sadly at the loss coloring 'Waves tone, reaching to pull him into the same embrace as his brother before slipping them back into his carrying chamber, looking Ratchet squarely in the optics before rolling away.

**:Let's just say that what they suffered through at those fleshlings servos is nearly **_**identical**_** to what Sideswipe and I suffered through in—in a certain gun-formers lab before we managed to escape to the pits and leave it at that.: **

Ratchet froze: while the older split-sparks had only divulged the full story of their past _once_, it was forever burned into his processors because of the pure _sadism_ that had gone into the experiments performed on them—it made him physically sick to his tanks to think of the smaller splits going through the same. Mechanically adding the—information to the smaller twins list he turned towards Jazz, one side of his mouth quirking up into a sad smile at the somber look in the saboteurs visor and body language as he watched Sunstreaker retreat to the transport.

**:Things like this make meh wish ah was a 'Con again—if only ta crush the squishies that did that ta 'em; and to show no mercy ta that mono-opticed freak that replac'd meh.: **

Only long decavorns of knowing the smaller silver mech kept Ratchet from berating him at the dark tone in his voice; he knew the saboteur would restrain himself—for now.

"Anyways; ya need ta scan the 'lil femme-bot, right Ratch?"

"That would be the entire point of you coming over here, Jazz."

The silver mech just grinned as he pulled the white femme from his carrying chamber before plopping her unceremoniously into Ratchets awaiting servo, large burnt orange optics shuttering rapidly in confusion even as the medic scanned her.

"What's her designation?"

"Spiresong; her names Spiresong."

Of course; leave it to a former composer to pick out a musically related name.

"Well you'll be glad to know that Spiresong is progressing normally for a new-spark; I would get a cube of low-grade into her soon and then let her fall back into recharge but nothing is physically wrong with her."

**:Good ta hear; Ah'm just gonna go follow ya's suggestion an' go feed her.: **

Ratchet looked at the saboteurs back suspiciously; the mech _NEVER_ just went along with whatever he said—he was up to something. Unfortunately finding out WHAT was about as easy as re-igniting a spark when it came to that mech; it was easier to wait for him to make a move—and pray to  
>Primus that they could stop him before he actually <strong>DID<strong> anything.

"Alright Hot Rod; who do you have for me?"

Hot Rod chuckled as he opened his carrying chamber, the newly awakened frames of Piston Rod and Firestorm tumbling into his servo, the two mechling looking around for a bit before turning to each other, shrugging at their new location before looking up at their carrier expectantly.

"It isn't me you should be looking at dear-sparks; Ratchet is the one who wishes to speak with you."

Piston looked over his shoulder at the medic before turning back to Hot Rod.

"Is he the yellow mech that Apollo's sittin' on?"

Apollo chirped and waved down at the two; even though they clearly weren't split-sparked, they were nearly as close as 'Wave and 'Drive were—and that was saying something, considering Piston was a good decivorn older than 'Storm.

"I am."

The orange/white sparkling turned to look at him, absently waving back at Apollo as he took the medic in.

"_*hn*_ My name's Piston Rod; 'lil bro next to me is Firestorm—whadda want to do to us?"

Ratchet was amused; it would seem that this little mech inherited the same attitude that Hot Rod had—_before_.

"I just want to scan you to make sure that there are no hidden injuries on your frame that may cause—problems later on."

"Like how the seekers havin' no wings caused problems? 'Cause I'll tell ya now; watchin' their wings reform was _creepy_."

"…..Something like that."

Piston shrugged in assent as he reached out to take a flame-colored servo in his own, trilling a gentle assurance to his smaller brother even as the slighter mechling stiffened when Ratchet's scanner passed through them, the glaring pout of the flame colored sparkling nearly breaking Ratchets resolve to not laugh at the endearing actions between the two.

"I'm pleased to say that other than some dents and scrapes there is nothing wrong with the two of you."

Piston snorted.

"That's cause the humans decided it was too much trouble to try and restrain me when they wanted ta 'xperiment on 'Storm; wanted to see how long we'd last without any fuel instead."

**:They STARVED them?!: **

Hot Rod raised a ridge in grim humor.

**:Out of all the things you've seen and heard THIS is what you get hung up on? As—**_**callous**_** as it might seem my sparklin's got off easy compared to some; I'm THANKFUL that nothing more happened.: **

"Experimented on 'Storm?"

The mechling grinned mischievously.

"They **TRIED**; usually ended up running out of the room cursin' 'cause I'd claw at their bodies 'till they left us alone."

**:…..And he wasn't shot?: **

**:What can I say? Primus was looking out for him; the BOTH of them.: **

**:Obviously.: **

"Can you tell me WHY they attempted to experiment on him?"

It was Firestorm who responded.

"Cause I can make the flicker-light."

Ratchet looked at Hot Rod with a raised ridge.

**:Don't look at me; it's his secret to tell.: **

The medic turned his attention back towards the suddenly talkative sparkling, curiosity piquing at the—intense looks some of the other sparklings were giving the flame-patterned mechling.

"What flicker-light Firestorm; can you show me?"

The little mechling was adorably serious as he nodded his helm, holding his servos out in front of his face as it screwed up in concentration. As the astroseconds ticked by Ratchet was prepared to tell Firestorm that he could try another time when Piston Rod held up a digit to his lippates, pointing to the brief flash of—something as he stared at his brothers' servos intently.

"Watch."

A fourteen-foot high explosion of flames had the medic rearing his helm back in shock, the humans that had slowly crept closer during his examinations of the sparklings leaping back in their own surprise as swearing filled the air, a couple of them running towards the CO2 bottles at either end of the hanger in trained reflex to any type of flame. Ratchet ignored them as he refocused his optics to filter the new light intensity even as he scanned every last sub-routine the small sparkling had, gently disrupting the little ones field as he noticed the alarming drop in his limited energon reserves while using whatever specialized mechanisms that allowed him to produce the flames.

"Careful sparklet; you're using more energon than you have the store for at the moment and I don't think that passing out from a lack of energon would be all that pleasant of an experience."

He turned to Hot Rod as he raised a ridge, jerking his helm in Firestorms direction.

"I assume this is what Morwenna meant by _'something uniquely capable to them'_?"

"Yes; though I am surprised that he's the first one to show you what he's able to do—I thought that honor would go to Lightwave or Airblast as they are two of the more—attention oriented sparklings under our care."

**:I want a complete list of all the sparklings and their abilities—especially ones that I've already examined. It might help me make sense of their scans when I go over them later.: **

**:Understood.:**

Ratchet let out a huff of air as he returned the two sparklings back to their carrier—while it stung that no other sparkling felt safe enough to tell him about their abilities he could understand the reason why; after all, those abilities are probably what made the humans step up their '_specialized'_ treatment in the first place.

He looked over as Fixit walked up to him, jaw tightening at the smaller medics fidgeting.

"Uh, R-Ratchet sir?"

"Yes?"

"I—uh—I have the rest of the sparklings base-line scans. I thought that it would be more time-effective than-than you scanning every sparkling by yourself."

Ratchet nodded his helm in agreement, optics rolling in exasperation when the sports car did nothing more than stare at him timidly.

"Well what are you waiting for? Data-burst them to me!"

Fixit let out a squeak of surprise before bursting it all in one large file, Ratchets glare letting him know how well that worked out. Grumbling to himself Ratchet opened the file a section at a time, verifying Fixits method of collection before going over the information.

"...*_hn_* Good work; just next time let me know when you're going to do something like this BEFORE you actually do it—do I make myself clear?"

"O-Of course sir!"

Fixit gave a quick salute before scampering off towards their monitored section of the hanger, Ratchet sighing before glancing over at Hot Rod.

"If you'll excuse me; I have a data-packet to assimilate."

Hot Rod watched as Ratchet moved off to a fairly deserted part of the hangar, his spark clenching in dread at the medics inevitable reaction once he completely read through the file.

He hoped they were able to contain him when he did.

*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*S ilverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Silverlight*Sil verlight*

Fea: Next time—NOW we see what's going on with Arcee, what kind of meeting Optimus went through, the long awaited nuclear fall-out and yet ANOTHER Autobot is…..kinda introduced.

'Till all are one my mechlings!


End file.
